Better Life
by Shockra
Summary: What if the walkers never rose? What would happen if Daryl and Abby still met? Based on my OC from Life Goes On and When Shit Hits the Fan and her relationship with Rick and family.
1. Chapter 1

Hello and welcome to my non-walker story! Some of you may be familiar with my writing from my past two TWD stories. If you're not, look them up, you may love them. I also have a Batman and Hakuouki fanfiction as well.

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Abigail King stared out of the window of the airplane as it made its approach into Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson international airport. She wished she could enjoy being back in Georgia but her reason for being there was a less than happy one. Two days earlier, she'd received a phone call from her sister-in-law that her brother had been shot and was now in a coma. She'd wanted to fly out that same day but her husband, Martin, had begged her to stay until the weekend and then he'd accompany her back to their hometown. So, she'd waited and every second had been excruciating. Abby was happy to at least be in the same state now, but they still had several hours of driving.

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A month had passed since Abby had arrived back in her hometown and she spent most of her time in the hospital, watching over her brother. Lori wanted Carl to have as normal of a life as possible, so they only came in for a few hours a day to visit him, so Abby spent most of her time there alone, although Jeremy came by after shift and kept her company. After that first weekend had ended, Martin had flown back to Seattle, where his work was and hadn't once returned, much to Abby's irritation, leaving her alone. Abby on the other hand was "retired", so she had all the time in the world and even if she still had a job, nothing would have pried her from her brother's bedside.

She had once been a master gunnery sergeant for the Marine Corps but she had spent a little too much time in war zones, leaving her emotionally damaged, so she'd been honourably discharged, leaving with a couple medals in her pocket. She had only been state side for a couple of weeks when she'd gotten the call about her brother, not exactly the welcome home she'd expected. In fact, Rick, Lori and Carl were supposed to come and visit her, that weekend; Lori looking for a reason to take a family holiday.

Abby stared at her brothers thinning form, sorrowfully. The doctors didn't know why Rick wasn't waking up, they figured that he must've hit his head when he fell to the ground when he'd been shot but CAT scans didn't show any brain bleed or other damage, so they had no idea when or if he'd ever wake up. Abby sighed as she stood up, patted Rick's hand and stepped out of the room. She walked over to the nurse's station and waited for the nurse to get off the phone and acknowledge her. When he finally did, he smiled up at her kindly.

"What can I do for you Sergeant King?" Nurse Ron asked her.

"I'm gonna step outside for a little bit, I know its unlikely but if anything happens could you just page me?" She asked him.

"Of course, I'll let you know if anything changes with Sheriff Grimes' condition." Nurse Ron replied with a smile.

"Thank you." Abby said then turned and walked to the elevator.

Once she was outside, she sat down on a bench in what passed as the hospitals gardens and watched the activity going on around her for a moment. Abby eventually pulled out her cell phone and activated her face time app and dialed her husband. The phone rang and rang and was just about to go to voice mail when finally, he picked up.

"Ab's? Is every thing okay?" Martin asked.

Abby frowned. "Martin why don't you have your camera activated? That's kind of the point of face time!"

"Uh...s-sorry, I dropped it yesterday…must've broke the darn thing." Martin answered nervously. "Did you need something?"

Abby's frown deepened. "I was just going to ask if you could send me some more of my clothes and my motorcycle. I'm probably going to be here a while longer, it would be nice to not constantly wear the same five outfits and be able to drive myself around."

"Yeah, sure. I'll send your clothing on rush, but I don't know how long it'll take for your bike to get there, though." Martin answered sounding relieved.

"Everything alright, Martin?" Abby asked.

"W-why do you ask?" Suddenly nervous again.

Abby shook her head in frustration. "Never mind. Just send me my clothes and bike, maybe a book or two. I'll talk to you later." Then she hung up without waiting for a reply, annoyed.

Once again, a sense of dread and suspicion settled into her stomach. Martin had long been ignoring her, even when she'd call from overseas, he wouldn't pick up. It had gotten so bad that over the last six months of her last tour, she had ceased trying to contact him and had called her brother instead. When she had arrived at the airport, that was the first time she'd seen or heard her husband in a long time. It had gotten to the point that she was even surprised to see him, expecting her brother to come and pick her up. She also expected him to hand her divorce papers the second she stepped onto American soil, but he had yet too.

Something was definitely not right about her marriage. Her husband barely ever touched her, and it was like pulling teeth just to get him to give her a kiss on the cheek. He said it was because he figured she needed to heal first, like withholding love was going to make her phycological issues go away. Which was stupid, love is what would heal her. Abby looked at her phone again and dialed another number.

"Lori?" She asked when they picked up. "Can you come pick me up?"

"Is something wrong?" Lori asked.

"Yeah, I think there is. I need to fly home, something's not right with Martin." She replied.

"Okay, I'll drive you to Atlanta. I'll ask Shane to pick Carl up from school." Lori replied and Abby could hear her moving around, grabbing keys and the door slamming shut. "I'll be right there."

"Thanks." She said sincerely, then hung up.

Abby went back inside to her brother's room and sat down beside him, taking his hand. "Hey big brother." She said to his unconscious form. "I'm gonna take off for a day or two, okay? I've got some stuff to deal with at home. It'd be great if you woke up by the time I get back!"

A ten minutes later, Lori showed up in the doorway of Rick's room. "You ready to go?"

Abby nodded as she grabbed her purse then the two ladies headed back to Lori's vehicle. At first Lori didn't say anything, but she finally did when they were half way to Atlanta before she finally spoke.

"Why do you need to go to Seattle today?" Lori asked in concern.

"I think Martin's cheating on me…I think he has been for a while already. I need to know." Abby said staring straight a head.

Lori was silent for many minutes more, then finally spoke up once more. "Are you sure this is wise? Confronting him this way?"

"You agree with me, don't you? That he's probably cheating on me." Abby stated, ignoring the questions.

"I know he hasn't been acting right for years, he doesn't even come home to visit his parents, let a lone us. Rick said that he wasn't answering your calls anymore either, that's all suspicious but it doesn't necessarily mean he's cheating." Lori pointed out.

"I know but it's the most likely scenario. Whether its cheating or if its something else, I wanna know what's goin' on with him! I wanna know why I seem to be the least important thing to him!" Abby said passionately.

Lori remained silent for the rest of journey and Abby watched the familiar scenery roll by as they drove. When they finally pulled to stop in front of the airport, Lori looked at Abby worriedly.

"Please think things through, don't do anything impulsive! Just come back safe and sound, okay? Rick will want to see you when he wakes up!" Lori patted Abby's hand, then waved at her as Abby got out of the vehicle.

Abby bought tickets for the first flight out of Atlanta to Seattle, which happened to be leaving in ten minutes and had to run hard to the gate to catch the flight. Once in the air, Abby fidgeted constantly as she watched the landscape far beneath her slide by. When she landed in Seattle's airport, she headed straight to the taxi terminal and hailed a ride.

When she had left King County, she had originally planned on heading straight home, but as she had stared out of the window of the airplane she realized that Lori was right; she needed to think things through. So, when she climbed into the back of taxi, she instead told him to head to a hotel near the cities oceanfront.

Once she'd checked into the hotel, she decided she needed to get drunk. The last time she'd done that, she was with her unit when they'd all had leave and gone to celebrate Lance Corporal Dan Whitman's twenty-fifth birthday. She'd had a blast and it was a good memory, one of the last ones she had before her problems started. She missed those boys, it was like having nine other brothers that she got along with really well. Even though she was in charge, they treated her like their little sister…except when things got tough, then she was their commanding officer. Some of them even said she was one of the best commanding officers they'd ever served under.

They never thought less of her when she started having problems, they did their best to help her through them but in the end, they probably only made things worse. In reality, when she first started showing signs of PTSD, they should have reported it immediately or she should have sought out help but they were loyal to her and she didn't want to go home yet.

Then, one night, she had a particularly bad nightmare which ended with her trying to beat the crap out of one of her men. He could have fought back, could have hurt her but he understood that it wasn't him she thought she was attacking, but an enemy, so he just tried to deflect and protect himself while the others tried to subdue her without hurting her, she was fortunate to not have her gun or knife on her. In the end, the unit medic had to give her a sedative to knock her out.

They had been in the middle of a surveillance operation when they had sent her back to base for medical evaluation and eventually it was officially determined that she had a severe on set of PTSD. They sent her to a military hospital in Germany to get her head in order before sending her back to US, to make sure she was capable of keeping her many state secrets, to herself. By the time she had landed state side, her PTSD symptoms had receded to a manageable level, to where they felt safe sending her home. And throughout that whole time, Martin didn't take one call from her nor had he enquired about her. It was Rick who had called the Seattle police department, since Martin wasn't taking any of Rick's calls either, and got them to send an officer to their house so that he could be informed of Abby's condition and earlier than expected return.

Early the next morning, Abby woke with a pounding headache but she wanted things done, so she rolled out of bed and got dressed anyways. She had decided to tell Martin that she wanted a divorce, no matter what she found. She had been so distracted by her duties as a solider, then her condition and finally her brothers condition, that she hadn't really come to realize what an awful husband Martin was. She knew she was far from innocent in the destruction of their marriage but he hadn't even tried to fix things while she had practically thrown herself at him, desperate for him to pay attention to her.

She'd also come to realize that she'd never loved the man to begin with. She'd married him because she thought he was the kind of guy her deceased parents would have approved of and at the age of nineteen, that was all she cared about in that moment. She also had been scared of dying alone, with the recent and suddenly departure of her parents, and her reputation as the town whore, she had thought no one would want her but then in walked Martin.

So, when Abby finished redressing in the clothes she'd worn the day before, she checked out of her hotel room and left the building. Abby told herself she was going to treat this like a mission, she'd go in find the information she needed and then respond however appropriate to the information and leave. She'd take her emotions out of the equation and just use her logic instead. As the taxi pulled to a stop in front of her house, Abby just sat there for a moment and stared at the strange car sitting in the driveway. She sat there so long that the taxi driver eventually turned and looked over her shoulder at her.

"You getting out hun?" The woman asked.

Abby nodded numbly and paid the driver before finally getting out of the car. She slowly walked up the front steps and used her keys to unlock the door, entering to a house that was completely silent. She wandered around the main floor and could see no signs of activity, so she finally walked up the stairs and headed to their bedroom, figuring that Martin must still be asleep.

The bedroom door wasn't even closed, obviously Martin was not expecting anyone to waltz in and what she saw when she entered the room, froze her in her tracks. She thought he'd been cheating on her but, she did not expect it to be with another man. When the strange man saw her he screeched in terror, while Abby just stared uncertain what to say or do.

"Abby!?" Martin said terrified. "Y-you're supposed to be in Georgia!" He stuttered.

Abby started laughing hysterically. "I knew something wasn't right." She in between breathes. "I thought you were sleeping with another woman but it's a man." Abby laughed harder keeling over. "I don't know if its better or worse, that it's a man!"

"Abby, please you're scaring me." Martin said as he slowly got out of bed.

Abby finally stopped laughing. "You're an awful man!" She finally yelled. "You know that? Why didn't you just divorce me? If you don't even love me, love women, why would you stay married to me?"

"I was going to! I was working on it! But you got sick and I didn't think it was the right time. I was trying to do the right thing! Please don't say anything to my folks, they don't know!" Martin pleaded.

"Don't know what? That you're a cheater or you like men?" Martin's parents were very religious and they'd find both things very unacceptable.

Abby turned on her heels, marched down the hall then the stairs and into the kitchen where the keys for their vehicles hung on a peg by the back door. Sure enough, her motorcycle keys still hung from a peg, so she grabbed them and the registration from drawer by the back door. She marched to the front door where her leather jacket hung and put it on as she marched back to the kitchen.

"Abby, wait!" Martin called as he buttoned up his pants. "We need to talk about this!"

Abby turned to face Martin. "What is there to talk about, Martin? We're getting divorced! Most of this shit is yours anyways so just send my shit to my brother's house. Our lawyers can work out the rest." Abby said then turned and headed out the back door.

She walked into the garage and jammed her thumb against the door opener, marched over to grab her helmet, which hung from the handle bars, then climbed on to her bike and fired it up. Her tires squealed as she peeled out of the driveway and headed to the nearest gas station with a restaurant. She then called a service about shipping her bike across country as she ate her breakfast, instantly deleting Martin's messages as he texted her and ignored his calls. Once she'd arranged that, she got back on her bike and drove herself back to the airport, dropped her bike off with the shipping company and bought herself a ticket to fly back to her real home. She technically no longer had a home or at least a house, but Georgia was where she wanted to be and Rick, if he ever woke up, would never let her sleep on the street.

She had the inkling to drive back to Georgia but she didn't want to be away from her comatose brother longer than necessary, otherwise she would have relished the time she needed on her own. Instead, though, she needed to be back in Georgia sooner than later. The shipping company promised her that her bike would only be an hour behind her so she could at least drive herself back to King county.

As it turned out, though, there was only one flight available that day to get her to Georgia and she wouldn't be getting into Atlanta until late in the evening. Abby sat in the departure area and did everything she could to not think about what had just happened, she refused to cry about it especially not in public. She didn't love him, so she shouldn't be hurt by what she'd just seen but apparently rejection hurt no matter if you cared for the person or not.

When she finally did board the plane, her neighbor asked her if something was wrong as a few tears rolled down her cheek. She forced a smile onto her face and told the kind old lady that she was fine then refused to cry for the rest of the trip, she was the queen of burying her emotions, today shouldn't be any different. When she landed, she collected her motorcycle and checked herself into a cheap hotel near the edge of town. She tried to sleep but ended up only tossing and turning for an hour before giving up and getting up once more.

She decided that drinking was a good idea so she got back onto her bike and drove to the first bar she found and went in side. The bar was the sort that low lives and scum of the earth tend to gather but she didn't care, she could take care of herself. She was after all, a highly trained Marine. When she entered, nearly every man in the bar turned to leer at her and whistled as she passed by but she ignored them as she headed straight to the bar.

"You sure you wanna stay here, honey? This place seems a little beneath you." The bartender said smirking.

"I don't need to be patronized right now, just get me a whiskey." Abby growled back at him.

The bartender shrugged and turned to grab a bottle of whiskey and poured it into a glass he had pulled from underneath the counter. "First one is on the house, sweet heart, you look like you need it."

"You have no idea." She replied than took a sip.

She sat there for near an hour before getting sick of the near constant flow of men coming to hit on her, even rejecting the free drinks they offered to buy her. She finally got up, after she paid her tab and exited the bar, several men booing as she departed. She walked over to her bike than stood and stared at it, wondering if she was sober enough to drive.

"If you have to think 'bout it, you probably ain't suitable to drive." A voice said from the next car over.

When Abby looked up, she saw a man leaning against an old truck smoking a cigarette. His hair was short and he had a short beard, barely more than stubble on his chin and was non-existent on his cheeks, his eyes were the most striking color of blue she had ever seen and he looked every bit the redneck that he probably was.

"Let me guess, you're hopin' to give me a ride?" Abby asked annoyed.

The man smirked. "Naw, saw you havin' none of it with other boys inside, just thought you should call a taxi or somethin'. I can give you a ride though, promise I won't hit on ya."

Abby looked at him. "How do I know you ain't some creep or ax murderer or somethin'?"

The man harrumphed, "Whatever lady, do what you want." He dropped his cigarette butt and stepped on it.

Abby sighed. "What's yer name?" She asked him.

He eyed her suspiciously. "Daryl, Daryl Dixon." He replied.

"Well Daryl, I've had an enormously shitty day and its revolved entirely around men or at least one man in particular. So, no, I'm not in the mood. Sorry if I'm comin' across like a complete psycho bitch, that ain't normally me." Abby sighed and leaned against her bike.

"Everyone's allowed to have a bad day." Daryl replied then indicated her bike with his chin. "Yours?" He asked.

"Yeah, she is, the only bright spot to my day. Haven't had a lot of time to ride 'er lately." She said as looked at it, smiling genuinely for the first time that day.

"Nice bike, looks custom." Daryl said appreciatively. "Had my own bike too until six months ago when my brother totalled it for me. Asshole."

"Insurance didn't give you enough to replace it?" She asked surprised.

"Wasn't insured and my brother would never replace it. Had to scrounge to get enough to buy this thing. Needs a lot of work but she gets me to where I'm goin'." Daryl said.

"Still, I'd be pissed if my brother did that too me." Abby studied him for a moment. "I don't want to leave my bike here, you got a solution for that?"

"Could load it up into the back of my truck. Do it all the time with Merle's but he's a lot stronger than you, don't think you can help me get it up there an' I can't do it on my own." Daryl said looking her up and down.

Abby considered a moment, something about Daryl made her like him, so she decided to trust him. But the booze might've been impairing her judgement a little. "I'm stronger than I look, you know."

Daryl smirked. "That so?"

"How do I know you ain't too drunk to drive yer self?" Abby asked.

"Only had one beer before I came out fer a smoke. You were already here when I arrived." Daryl said as he walked over to her bike and started eyeing it up.

"Alright fine but don't do anything funny, like I said I ain't in the mood." Abby finally agreed then held out her hand. "Abby Ki…Grimes, Abby Grimes."

Daryl shook her hand then indicated for her to move aside. She let him walk her motorcycle to the back of his truck, and then drop the tail gate and looked back and forth between the motorcycle and the back of his truck. "You sure you can handle this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Abby said.

"Fine. Help me get the front end up first, then get up in the back an' support it while I lift the back." Daryl said.

"Okay, works for me." She said.

Daryl counted to three and then they hoisted the front end of the bike into the back of his truck. Once Daryl had a good hold on it, Abby quickly jumped up in the back of his truck while Daryl held it still. Then, when she grabbed the front, Daryl went to the back and with loud grunt he managed to lift the rear and together they rolled it all the way into the truck bed. Abby jumped out of the back but tripped when she landed and fell on her ass, while Daryl closed the tailgate. She laughed as she got up and dusted the dirt off of her pants.

"You alright?" Daryl asked as he smirked.

"I'm fine, maybe I _have_ had too many." Abby said giggling.

"Come on, lets get you home." Daryl said as he walked to his driver side door.

"Well that'll be a long drive but I got a room not far." Abby said as she climbed in the passenger side of his truck.

"You ain't from Atlanta?" Daryl asked looking surprised.

"No, King County. It's a few hours from here, just came from a shitty trip to Seattle. My flight got in late, didn't feel like drivin' so late and I tried to sleep but couldn't so I came here." Abby said as he put his truck into drive then gave him the address.

"You don't really seem the type to ride bike or drink in bars like that place." Daryl commented inspecting her again as they drove.

"Ever heard 'don't just a book by its cover'?" She asked him. "I'm actually a farm girl, picked up my first gun when I was eight, shot my first deer when I was ten. Worked harder than most of the girls my age, then joined the military when I was nineteen."

Daryl looked at her surprised. "You're in the army?"

"Marine corps actually or I was. Retired now. I was a Master Gunnery Sergeant, a sniper." Abby explained as she held out her dog tags.

They were at a red light so he bent over and looked at them carefully. "Says King is yer last name." He said eyeing her suspiciously.

"Legally, it still is. Grimes is my maiden name and I'm planning on takin' it again once I'm divorced." She pulled out the wedding ring from her pocket and showed it to him.

"An' yer husband is the reason for yer shitty day?" He guessed.

"Yeah, found him in bed with another man." Abby said angrily.

Daryl looked at her shocked. "Holy shit."

"Yup I'm such a horrible wife that I drove my husband to the arms of another man." Abby said with a sigh.

"Pretty sure the problem is his not yers. Ya seem alright to me."

Abby chuckled, "You've known me the all of a couple minutes and I'm half drunk, hardly a solid foundation for a friendship."

Daryl grinned. "Some times you get to know someone better when they're drunk. Think you'd have told me about yer dumb ass husband otherwise? Like you said I'm a complete stranger." Daryl pulled to a stop in front of the motel she was staying at and turned off his truck. "Let's get yer bike out of my truck."

Daryl climbed out and went to his tailgate and opened it as she slowly came around. "Same procedure as before, just in reverse." He said.

Abby jumped up into the truck bed, unstrapped the bike and rolled it back to where Daryl waited. After they got it to the ground, Abby held out her hand.

"Thank you, Daryl. You kept to yer word, even made some good conversation. If you're ever in King county, look me up. I'll buy you a beer." She said smiling as he shook her hand. "I owe you."

"No problem." Daryl said smirking, then climbed back into his truck and drove off.

Abby smirked slightly, she had to admit, she had been more than a little tempted to invite the man inside, he seemed more her speed. Martin was a city boy born in the country, he never enjoyed the outdoor stuff she loved, Daryl on the other hand, seemed to totally be the outdoorsy type…if she liked him past the night. Also, it had been a ridiculously long time since she'd been with a man and Daryl looked like a good screw. Either way, she didn't want any regrets in the morning and she was technically still married.

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So I hope I didn't disappoint! This definitely will one of my shorter stories, more like ten chapters. So I hope you'll all stick around.

-Shockra


	2. Chapter 2

Hey! So welcome to my 2nd chapter. Honestly, I wasn't sure how well received my non-walker story would be but it seems like it's liked...so far. I hope you continue to! Enjoy!

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The next morning, Abby got up bright and early and herself drove home, heading straight to Rick's house. When she arrived, she found no one inside, so she walked straight to the room she'd been staying in and had a shower. It felt amazing for her to get out of the clothes she'd been wearing for the last two days, it felt like stripping off the physical embodiment of her bad day. Once she refreshed herself, she got back on to her bike and drove off for the hospital. It was now a Saturday, so Abby wasn't surprised to see both Carl and Lori sitting in Rick's room, despite being mid morning. They looked up at her at the same time and smiled.

"Aunty!" Carl cried happily as he ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Hey Carl." She replied as she returned the hug.

"So how was your trip?" Lori asked as she watched Abby carefully.

"I'll tell you about it later." Abby replied giving her a meaningful look. "Any changes?" She asked indicating Rick.

"No but they're gonna do another CAT scan in a few hours, see if anything has changed." Lori replied.

They all stayed until Rick was carted off to get his scan, while he was away the three of them went to the cafeteria and had lunch together. Carl went into his day at school from the day before and told a hilarious story about a boy who'd thought it was a good idea to wear his dads skin tight pleather pants from when he was a kid. She didn't know if he somehow sensed that she was sad but Carl was doing a good job of cheering her up, she was happy to be home.

Just as they finished eating and started walking back, a page over the intercom called them back to Rick's room. Lori and Abby looked at each other worriedly, then ran back to his room, only to find Rick sitting up in bed. Lori and Carl cried out as they ran into the room and hugged Rick. Abby watched happily as the little family unit was reunited.

"Oh good, you are all here." The doctor said as he walked into the room.

"So, did you figure out why he was unconscious?" Abby asked the doctor.

"No, I'm afraid that's still a mystery but as far as we can tell he's got no brain damage." The doctor replied.

"Oh, thank god!" Lori said as she kissed Rick.

"How long before I can get out of here, doc?" Rick asked speaking for the first time, his voice hoarse from disuse.

"You'll be in here for at least another week, Sheriff. You've lost some weight and you've lost a lot of muscle mass. We also want to keep an eye on you for a while, make sure you don't have any set backs." The Doctor answered. "I'll leave you folks to catch up, I'll be by in another few hours to check up on Rick."

The doctor turned and left, leaving the four of them alone again. "Abigail!" Rick called out to her with his arms out stretched. She smiled, suppressing the urge to cry as she walked over and hugged her brother tightly. "How are you doin', sis?" He asked her.

"Hey, you just woke up from a coma, worry about yourself for now!" She said as she playfully slapped him in the chest.

"I'm serious, Abigail. I hadn't heard from you in a while, you were still having a lot of nightmares the last I heard." He studied her face carefully. Abby shook her head, leave it up to Rick to completely ignore his own situation and worry about hers.

"I'm fine, Rick. I still get nightmares but they don't affect me like they used to, the doc's say that I'm pretty much better. They'll want to evaluate me in another month but I don't think they'll find anything wrong any more."

"She's been great, Rick. She's been staying with us for the last month and not one problem." Lori said in support.

"Where's Martin?" Rick asked sounding testy and when he saw Abby's expression, his face darkened.

"In Seattle…working." Abby said trying to keep her shit together.

Rick studied her. "What happened?"

Abby shook her head, "Not right now, Rick. Please."

Rick sighed. "Fine."

"Are you hungry?" Lori asked him.

"I'm starving." He said smiling again.

That day had been a whirlwind of emotion. Mostly she was happy and ecstatic that her brother was once again awake and apparently healthy, minus the bullet hole that was still healing in his side. But after Lori had left to bring Carl home and put him to bed, Abby told Rick about what had happen over the last couple days.

Rick shook his head. "I knew he was a good for nothing."

"Nobody was ever good enough for me, according to you." Abby replied as she dashed away her tears.

She had embarrassingly broken down in her brother's arms as she sobbed out the story. Rick was probably the only person in the world who'd ever seen her shed more than a tear…or at least he had been until she had broken down overseas. He never made fun of her and even though he couldn't always understand her girl cry talk, he knew she wasn't crying for nothing.

When she went back to Rick's house, she retold the story once more to Lori, this time without crying but still feeling immensely depressed. For reasons beyond Abby's understanding, Lori thought they could still 'work it out' which confused her. Why would she _want_ to work it out? He didn't even like women and he had already planned on divorcing her, but her PTSD had put a hiccup in his plan. When she went to bed, she cried herself to sleep for the first time since her parents died.

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A week later, Rick was all smiles as the nurse wheeled him out of the front door of the hospital and it wasn't just Rick's family that greeted him as he exited, but half of King counties officers. Shane had even been cheesy enough to bring a big cluster of balloons and shoved them into the back seat of their vehicle, which took almost all of the back seat up but Carl didn't seem to mind, because he begged and pleaded with his mother to let him ride with Abby on her Harley. Surprising to both her and Carl, Rick even said it was okay, just this one time. Eventually Lori relented also and Carl happily strapped on a spare helmet and climbed on behind Abby with a huge grin. Abby followed Rick and Lori as they made a detour to the only fast food joint in town, as per Rick's request.

Pretty much everyone came over to their table to talk to Rick, congratulating him on his release from the hospital and wishing him a speedy recovery. Abby found it a little annoying to be interrupted every few seconds, but Rick was their Sheriff and it had been big news when he had been shot.

While her day had started on a high note, with her brother leaving the hospital, it ended on a sour note. Sitting in the mail box, when they got home, was a big brown envelope with her name handwritten on it. When she opened it, she found her divorce papers neatly packed inside with Martin's signature already on it. She stood there staring dumbly at the papers for so long that Rick came to look over her shoulder, then hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"Its for the best." He whispered to her.

Abby sighed. "I know, its just…"

"Give it a few months and you'll be happy about it." He said as he rubbed her back then went to sink down onto their couch, lying on his back.

"Why don't you look for a job to distract you?" Lori suggested from the kitchen.

"I'm sure I could get you hired." Rick said grinning as he looked over the back of the couch.

"You an' I both know, I don't have the patience to be the cop. I'd be punchin' every bad mouthed drunk, not to mention that you an' I would be tryin' to kill each other several times a day." She said as she flopped down beside him by his feet.

"Lori has a point though, you should get a job or do something to distract yer self." Rick said as he poked her with a toe as he stretched out.

"Yeah, its gettin' borin' sitting around all the time but I don't know what I want to do now that I'm out of the military. I know I don't want a typical nine to five type of job." Abby said with grunt.

"What about a conservation officer?" Rick suggested.

"Better than workin' with you." Abby said grinning at him. "But I don't know, the lack of patience might still play a factor in that."

Lori came into the living room and handed Rick a sandwich. "I think that's a good idea! You know this area really well, you two grew up huntin' out here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose it might be a good idea but I'd still need to do the training." Abby sighed.

"You got through a lot more intense training in the corps!" Rick said as he cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm not worried about it bein' hard, just tedious and borin'." Abby dropped her head back against the couch.

"Seriously? That's what yer worried about?" He asked annoyed.

Abby stuck her tongue out at him then rocked back up to her feet and grabbed her leather jacket and bike keys.

"Where you goin'?" Rick asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"I don't know, just out." She said as she walked to the door.

"Don't do anythin' stupid!" Rick called.

"Okay _dad_!" Abby called back sarcastically.

Abby hopped onto the back of her motorcycle, fired it up and peeled out of the driveway. At first, she had no direction, but as she turned down a second dirt road, she realized she was heading home or at least the home that her and Rick had grown up in. When she pulled to a stop at the end of the drive way, there was a thick chain and a railway tie pulled across the entry to the driveway with a 'For Sale' sign staked off to one side.

Abby climbed off her bike, hung her helmet on the handle bar then climbed over the blockade and walked down the long dirt driveway. Rick and Abby were in fact farm kids. They'd spent their whole childhood here on this farm, a farm that had been in the family for four generations but when her parents had died when she was eighteen, Rick didn't want it, so he had sold it. Him and Lori had just bought their house and he was still starting off as a cop then; so, against her will, he had done it. If she hadn't been so caught up in the guilt and grief of her parent's death, she might have held it against him.

The forest that lined the drive way was just as she remembered it and it made her smile as it flooded her with nothing but happy memories. As she continued down the drive, she remembered her favorite horse. Her parents had bought it for her when she'd shown an interest in barrel racing. She wasn't a terribly expensive horse but for a young girl, she was amazing. But when she turned sixteen, she'd become seriously rebellious and had given up on barrel racing, something she regretted to this day. Her parents had wanted to down size their herd when she'd turned seventeen, so when they'd sold four of their seven horses, her lovable mare had been sold. She understood now why they had. When they'd gotten her, she was an untested barrel horse but by the time she'd turned sixteen, her mare had gained both experience and repute and she was wasted just grazing in a pasture.

Abby frowned when she looked over at the paddock. It looked so depressingly dilapidated as did the barn beside it. The paint was practically non-existent, the roof on the barn was sagging and the metal one on the paddock was practically orange from rust. And then there was the house.

The shingles were curling and even missing in some places, the light blue shudders where badly peeling, the porch was missing half its board and the steps were completely missing. The sight made her very sad. Her grandfather and father had both been very proud and meticulous men. They took great care of their property, you never saw a single millimetre of peeling paint, anything that broke was immediately fixed or replaced.

The only thing that didn't seem to have suffered, was the garden. It had a few weeds in it, but the house looked like it'd been vacant for at least a couple of months so that wasn't surprising. Abby walked up to the nearest window, stood on her tippy toes and peered inside. Just like the outside, the inside was falling a part. Wallpaper was peeling, the ugliest rug she'd ever seen, was covering the once beautiful hardwoods and the old light fixtures had been replaced with something equally hideous and poorly installed fixtures.

Abby sighed, seeing this place didn't help her mood at all. She walked back down the drive, depressed; apparently, she found the state this place more upsetting than the reminder that her marriage had fallen apart. She climbed back over the blockade, then climbed back onto her bike and took off down the road once more. After randomly wandering the all too familiar back roads, Abby eventually rolled back into town. When she pulled up to a red light, she was absently looking around her when she spotted a familiar truck parked in front of the local bar.

Abby smirked, then made a very illegal right-hand turn from the far left-hand lane and pulled into the bars parking lot. She took off her helmet once more, then strolled into the bar. Several people nodded to her immediately, knowing exactly who she was. The one benefit of drinking in the local bar, everyone knew her brother was the Sheriff and she was very off limits, so they'd leave her a lone…mostly. Some childhood friends of either her or Rick might come up and want a drink with her.

She'd usually go to a bar a little further away, somewhere she might not be known but that truck had lured her in. As she looked around, she finally found the person she was looking for sitting at the bar sipping a beer. She walked over and sat on the barstool beside him.

"Hey, remember me?" She asked as she sat.

Daryl smirked. "Course. You said you'd buy me a beer for haulin' yer bike for you. You know you ain't that easy to find. Asked 'round for an Abby Grimes or King a little, and no one claimed to know you."

"Well that's what you get for a small town, I guess, probably thought you were some creep." Abby said as Mike the bartender walked over. "A beer for me and my friend here, Mike." She requested.

He looked between Daryl and Abby suspiciously. "Sure, kiddo."

"If you call Rick or one of his Amigo's, so help me, I'll make you wish you hadn't been born." Abby threatened as he walked away. Mike gave her an unhappy look but gave her, her beer and another to Daryl. Once he was gone, Daryl looked over at her confused.

"Who's Rick and his amigo's?" He asked.

Abby chuckled. "Rick is my older brother, and he is well-known for being over protective and his amigos are his buddies who think they have the right to treat me as he does."

Daryl grunted in response but didn't make any comment. They sipped their beers quietly for several minutes before Abby stood up and tugged on his sleeve.

"You know how to shoot?" Abby asked him as she continued to pull on him.

Daryl stood up slowly and looked at her skeptically. "Is this Georgia?" He asked sarcastically in response.

Abby laughed and pulled him after her. "I haven't shot a gun since I got back, let's see if yer any good."

She finally stopped pulling on his sleeve as he willingly walked in step beside her. Once outside, she walked to the passenger side door of Daryl's truck, which she received a raised eyebrow from him but he didn't comment as she climbed inside. Once in side, he eyed her up suspiciously as he put a key in the ignition, like she might say or do something he wouldn't like.

Abby laughed. "Well ain't you a suspicious fellow."

"People generally ain't so nice to me without hardly knowin' me, 'specially your sort." He said turning the engine over.

"What'd I say 'bout books?" She asked with a cheeky smile, to which Daryl just grunted. "I need to let loose a little, tryin' to do it here, in King county, is a little like livin' in a fish bowl; everyone watchin' me. I used to go two towns out to drink, when I was teenager but the gun range is just out of town. You mind if we stop by where I'm stayin' an' get my guns?"

"Sure, ain't got nothin' better to do." He said as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Abby gave him instructions on how to find Rick's house as they rumbled down the streets. Daryl was looking around the entire trip and finally commented. "You ain't kiddin' 'bout the fish bowl."

Everywhere they drove, heads turned as they drove by. "Probably a mix of the fact that I'm gettin' divorced an' already hangin' out with strange men." Abby rolled her eyes. "This place has almost doubled in size since from when I first moved away, didn't think things would be as bad no more. Ignore them."

"Grew up in an even smaller town but people preferred to ignore Merle an' I." Daryl said shrugging.

"Merle your brother?" Abby asked.

"Yeah but he's like eleven years older than me, wasn't 'round much, though he thinks he was." Daryl seemed shocked at himself for sharing a personal thing, as he turned his face away.

"Rick and I are only four years a part and he's always been in my life like a dirty shirt. Sometimes its nice, 'specially recently but mostly its very annoying. Beat up pretty much every boyfriend I ever had!" She shook her head in irritation.

"At least they leave you in peace now when yer at home." Daryl said smirking.

"When I was a teenager, I enjoyed all that attention an' maybe if I hadn't turned my husband gay, I might still." She sighed.

"Feelin' sorry fer yourself ain't exactly an appealin' quality. Shit happens, deal with it." Daryl grumbled.

Abby chuckled. "Well ain't you forward. But yer right. Just got my divorce paper's so I guess that's put me in a mood."

"So yer gonna shoot shit with a redneck stranger." Daryl said.

"Yup, I'm weird like that." She said grinning, then pointed to a driveway. "Stop there." Daryl stopped in front of Rick's house then Abby slid out. "Be right back."

She walked up the driveway, past the house to the garden shed in the back. She opened it up and, propped against one wall, was a large case with the US Marine Corps emblem on it. Abby picked it up and opened a drawer that contained another smaller case. She took both cases with her and walked down the driveway, threw the larger case into the bed of Daryl's truck and brought the smaller one with her into the cab.

"Is that your rifle in that case?" Daryl asked as she climbed inside and closed the door.

"Yup, a thing of beauty, that is. Don't know why but my men sent it here instead of Seattle." She said shrugging as he put truck into gear and rolled away.

"You complain to 'em 'bout yer man? Probably figure you weren't gonna last." Daryl suggested.

"Yeah they knew all about my problems. The last six months, I'd stopped tryin' to communicate with Martin and just called my brother instead." Abby replied.

"And that didn't put up any red flags?" Daryl asked quirking an eyebrow.

"It did, I just…I don't know." Abby paused. "When I got back I was just tired of conflict and then Rick got shot and I just never dealt with it…until that day I met you."

"Your brother got shot?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, he's the town sheriff. There was this high-speed chase in another county and it came headin' this way, Rick and his deputies put down the spike strips an' waited for them to come up the highway. The car drove over 'em an' lost control, then the car flipped over. Rick and Shane approached the car while the other two deputies hung back. They were told that there were only two suspects in the car and at first only two got out, guns blazin'. Rick let his guard down when the first two went down an' then a third one crawled out an' shot Rick in the side, missin' his vest." She explained.

"He's fine though?" Daryl asked apparently genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, just brought him home today. Was in a coma for like, a month." Abby said.

"An' how long have you been back?" Daryl looked.

"A month an' a half?" She guessed not really having counted.

"Not much of a welcome wagon." Daryl commented.

Abby just shrugged. They made more small talk as the drove, she was kind of surprised with how chatty he was with her; he didn't seem the type to like small talk but he kept on asking her questions. When they arrived, Daryl carried her rifle in for her and they rented out a hunting rifle for Daryl to shoot. They were led out to the long-range weapons range where only a few people occupied the range. In the weapons range designated for weapons like pistols and other short-range weapons, the place was packed with people.

Abby got several whistles from the men as she started assembling her sniper rifle and then brought it over to their stall. Most of the men stopped to watch her and called out to her but she ignored their cat calls and focused on the targets down the range.

"You know how to handle that honey? Want me to teach you?" One asked.

"If you like 'em big I got somethin' for you." Another commented

Daryl glared at them and gave off a very hostile vibe but this wasn't the crowd to back off so easily. "Knock it off you sumbitches!" He growled at them.

"Ignore them Daryl." She called back to him. "You think it's the first time I've gotten this kind of attention. You shoulda heard some of the stuff the boys back at the corps would say when I first started trainin'. Shut them up pretty quickly, though."

Daryl glowered at them then turned back to her as she laid down and popped out the stand and stared once more down her scope. She quickly hit the furthest targets bullseye six times in a row. When she looked up, Daryl was grinning at her and the cat calls started again.

Abby shrugged. "That's only five hundred yards, easy. Nothin' here is gonna challenge me, its more of a stress relievin' thing."

Daryl handed her the rifle he rented. "Try with this, the sights ain't so good as a military grade weapon."

Abby stood up, dusted herself off and took the weapon and put it too her shoulder. She looked down the sights, which were indeed considerably more inferior but Abby still hit the bullseye after her first target was replaced. Daryl looked over his shoulder, annoyed at the constant cat calls and harassment she was receiving. Eventually he couldn't handle it any more and approached them again, demanding that they leave.

"Whatcha gonna do, son?" One of the men asked.

"You think you can take all us on?" Asked another.

"I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl replied angrily, getting up in their faces even more. "Make you spit out the teeth you got left!"

Abby walked over to the group. "Hey y'all, how 'bout you go suck on someone's else dick. He ain't interested." She said stepping up beside Daryl.

"Don't worry sweetheart, it'll only tickle a little." The first man said.

"What suckin' his dick?" Abby asked.

The man's look darkened. "Cute. I'd gladly let you suck mine!" He smiled at her wickedly.

Daryl shoved the man hard, nearly knocking him onto his butt being saved by falling against one of his buddies, but as he straightened, Abby got in between him and the other men before they could retaliate. "I might suck his" She said indicating Daryl behind her "but you couldn't pay me enough to even touch any part of y'all. So, take your miniscule pricks and buzz off before I _break_ them off!"

"Hey!" A voice called from behind the group of men. "I'm ten seconds away from callin' Sheriff Grimes an' lettin' him know his baby sister is bein' harassed by a bunch of ass holes. Don't think many of you wanna attract the police's attention to ya, do you?" They all turned to look at the newcomer, then looked back at Abby. "She's a Marine, she'll destroy you boys." The man warned.

The men glared at Abby and Daryl before they finally turned and dispersed. "Thanks, Hank." Abby said looking at him apologetically. "Didn't think they'd be stupid enough to bother me here."

"Those boys are from outta state, 'parently never got taught any manners. Who's he?" Hank said indicating Daryl who still stood close behind her.

"A friend. Not a word of this to my brother or his friends, you hear? He needs to focus on healin', not me or folks harassin' me." She said firmly.

"You ain't no little girl no more, you can handle yer self. Just don't need some wack jobs harassin' my patrons, 'specially not American heroes." Hank said grinning. "Yer brother is awfully proud of you, you know. Ya should hear him talkin' 'bout you to the guys!"

"That is _so_ embarassin'!" Abby said putting a hand to her head.

Hank chuckled. "He excels at embarrasin' you, don't he? Take yer time so I can boast to all who'll listen that you learnt to shoot here!" He winked then turned and walked off.

"Friend of yer brothers?" Daryl asked.

"Sort of, mostly just a long time acquaintance. Rick and I came here all the time as kids with our dad." She handed Daryl the hunting rifle she still held. "Sorry 'bout that." She said indicating the retreating men.

"Can't let bunch of assholes talk 'bout a woman like that. Like yer friend said, they ain't got no manners, felt the need to teach 'em some." Daryl brought the rifle to his shoulder and looked into the scope.

"Don't need you gettin' in trouble for me." Abby said softly. "Like Hank said, I can handle myself."

"I ain't no pussy, coulda handled them without yer help." Daryl growled then fired off three successive shots.

Abby smirked, he wasn't so bad a shot either. "I'm sure you coulda, but it don't mean you should get into a fist fight for a girl you just met."

Daryl scoffed. "Yer a woman not just some girl, an interesting one no less. Some women are worth a black eye."

"You just sayin' that cus I said I'd suck yer dick." Abby said laughing. Daryl flushed straight from his cheeks to his ear tips. He looked down his scope to avoid her gaze. "I meant it you know, maybe not today…but one day."

"Stop mockin' me." He growled venomously.

"I'm not! I think you're an attractive man and interesting! If I wasn't technically still married, I might allow you to take me somewhere for the night." Abby said sincerely, not that she hadn't already visited another man's bed but she'd known that man longer than she'd known Martin.

"Thought you said you were divorced?" He asked looking down at his boot tips.

She looked at him amused, she hadn't really taken him for the bashful type. Watching him interact with her, she got the feeling he didn't have a lot of experience with women. At least not a lot of meaningful interactions.

"I said I got my _papers_ today, as in the ones you sign and then send off to the lawyer. Takes a few weeks after that for it to become 'official'. So technically, I'm probably gonna be married a little while longer." She explained. "It matters to you whether I'm married or not?"

"I don't do married women." Daryl said suddenly straightening up and looking her in the eye, obviously steeling himself.

She smirked. "Look, we can be just friends. I _do_ wanna get to know you more, I'm pretty good at readin' people and I think yer a good one. You coulda taken advantage of me when I was piss drunk but you didn't even try, you even put my heavy ass bike in yer the bed of yer truck and drove me to my hotel room. That takes character, I know plenty of people who'd have taken the opportunity."

"Saying you wanna get to know my cause I didn't try an' force myself on you?" He asked frowning.

"Not entirely accurate but not inaccurate either." She said with a sigh. "I've done plenty of impulsive things, was with a lot of guys when I was a teenager. Married my husband largely on impulse. But I ain't no spring chicken anymore, if I'm gonna get into a relationship with someone, I want it to be a meaningful one."

"Why me? I'm jus' some dumb redneck you jus' met." He looked at her confused.

"I don't think you're remotely dumb, maybe have a bit of a chip on yer shoulder but that don't make you dumb. As for the redneck thing, I don't really care. Besides I'm more redneck than I look." She smiled at him. "And yer different, can't quite place what it is but like I said, I'm good a readin' people." She paused and stared at him intently. Then finally asked, "If you didn't think I'd still like you, why'd come lookin' for me?"

Daryl shrugged. "M' brother took off on me again and didn't have any thin' better to do…"

"Where you live?" She asked.

Daryl's eyes hardened. "No where's. Just roll from town to town, get the odd job to make 'nough to move on."

"Well that makes two of us, or at least I ain't got no job and no home…even my childhood home has rotted into nothin'." Abby looked down suddenly depressed at the thought of her home.

"Whatcha mean?" He asked puzzled by her reaction.

Abby shook her head as she looked up again. "Nothin' just went for a drive earlier, wound up on the family farm. The place used to be beautiful when my family owned it, now all the buildings are rotting to nothing and its up for sale again."

"Why don't you buy it then? Fix it up, give you a place to live at least. Probably dirt cheap in this economy, 'specially if its as beaten up as you say…what?" Daryl asked finally because she was staring at him funny.

"Sorry didn't mean to stare at you like that. If anyone's dumb, its me! That hadn't even crossed my mind!" Abby shook her head in disbelief.

"Pretty sure you ain't dumb. Can you afford it? You said you had no job." Daryl finally turned away and picked her rifle off the ground after putting the strap of the rented hunting rifle over his shoulder and looked down the scope.

"Got a pretty good pay out from the Marine's on top of my nearly untouched paycheques. My husband also makes a pretty penny makin' video games, so I'll get a fair chunk from that also." Abby said shrugging.

Daryl settled the rifle more against his shoulder, aimed down at the target and fired, which caused him to curse in surprise. "Didn't think it'd have quite that much kick." Then looked down the scope once more and fired again, keeping the weapon steady this time. "You should do it, it'd give you somethin' to do."

* * *

There isn't too many of the other characters in this story but Michonne, Carol and Sophia do make an appearance in the later chapters, as does Shane...kinda has to be there, being Rick's best friend and all.

-Shockra


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, thank you for the love! I always love getting reviews! I specifically would like to say thanks to Sharin Cole , who's been reading since my first TWD fanfiction! I really appreciate your loyalty! Also to mtngirlforever and I.C.2014 who were among my first comments! Thanks!

* * *

The next day Abby walked into the local lawyer's office, and dropped her divorce papers on to the lawyer's desk. She had managed to end her previous day on a reasonably okay note. Rick grilled her about the man in the truck that she'd pulled up with before she'd headed of to the gun range but she managed to derail that line of thought with her telling him that she was thinking of buying their family farm back. To her shock, he actually encouraged her too do it, especially after she told him what she had seen.

In the morning, she'd called the lawyer to make an appointment so she could move on with her life and start a new. He went over the details, and she agreed to split their asset fifty-fifty, letting him keep the house. As soon as she was done, she headed straight to the real estate agent to enquire about the property. Daryl had been right it was dirt cheap. Still, Abby negotiated with the seller and managed to get it for even cheaper. When she finally went back to Rick's place, she shoved the paper work in his face and grinned. When he looked them over, he grinned up at her.

"You bought it!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"I couldn't let it go to someone else! Its good that I came in when I did! Some big corporation wanted to flatten everything on the property, subdivide it and sell it off as townhouses." She said shaking her head.

"Townhouses? Here? That's stupid." Rick scrunched his face.

"Yeah well that's what they call 'progress'." Abby said rolling her eyes.

"When do you get possession of it?" He asked.

"In three days. Basically, just have to finish processing the paper work, get the money and its all mine." She said excitedly.

"I'd have a beer with you to celebrate but the docs don't want me drinking while I'm on those stupid meds." Rick said as he winced and rubbed his side.

"'S okay, tonight I'll make supper!" She said happily.

"Thank god! I can't stand another one of Lori's burnt meals." He looked shocked at his words then pointed at her. "Don't you dare say that too her!"

Abby laughed, "Don't worry, I won't get you into trouble! What you want? I'll make whatever you want!"

Rick thought long and hard then finally requested lasagna. Abby laughed again. "I say anything and you come up with _lasagna_?"

Rick shrugged. "I'm a pasta man."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Fine, lasagna it is! Better go shopping than."

She made a quick trip to the kitchen to see what there was on the shelves, then grabbed her keys and drove off for the grocery store. As she rumbled into the parking lot, every head turned in her direction and watched her park and climb off of her motorcycle. A couple people forced a smile and waved at her, recognizing her and moved on. Abby walked into the store, grabbed a cart and rolled down aisles and started grabbing things she'd need.

Abby paused as she turned down the frozen food aisle shocked, then smiled. Down the aisle, Daryl was squinting at the frozen dinners with several already stacked on his arm. Abby rolled down the aisle and gently bumped into him, when he didn't look her way, earning her a momentary angry expression which turned to a smirk when he saw it was her.

"You stalkin' me now?" Daryl asked, smirking at her, then glanced into her cart. "You plannin' on cookin' something up?"

"Yeah promised my brother I would, kind of a celebratory thing. I took your advice." She said smiling back at him.

He had been very good to her yesterday, despite the weirdness of the day. After shooting a little more with their rifles, they'd moved on to her pistol which she had also brought along. He had been very impressed by it too. He'd then driven her back to the bar than followed her home, as she couldn't easily store her rifle on the back of her bike with its case.

Daryl frowned. "Advice on what?"

"On buying my family farm back! I did! This morning!" She said happily.

"You're right, you are impulsive." Daryl said as he shifted the frozen meals from one arm to the other.

"I told my brother 'bout it last night, he thought it was a good idea too!" She replied continuing with her happy voice. "You look like you're about to have a great feast yourself." She continued, indicating the frozen dinners.

"The only thing I can cook, is wild meat…" He said shrugging.

"Well I'll cook for you one day, I'm pretty good at cooking."

"Yes, she is." Agreed a voice that made Abby's face twitch in irritation. Abby turned and saw Shane leaning against one of the freezer doors, still in uniform. "Rick just invited me over, told me you were cookin'. Couldn't pass that up."

"Whatdya want Shane?" She asked, irritated.

"Just sayin' hello! That so bad?" He asked in return.

"Depends on what you say afterwards." She growled.

Shane laughed then nodded to Daryl standing behind her. "Who's the asshole? Looks like trouble. It also sounded like you were makin' a date with him."

"He ain't yer concern, Shane! Back off!" She growled once more.

"Hey asshole! If I look you up, am I gonna find a long wrap sheet?" Shane asked looking around Abby.

"Nothin' more than a couple speedin' tickets." Daryl answered, oozing hostility but not stupid enough to get cheeky with Shane.

"Not even divorced an' you're already datin'." Shane said cocking an eyebrow.

"Screw you, Shane! My personal life ain't your concern!" Abby was ready to knock his teeth out.

"Your brother know 'bout him?" Shane asked.

"Back. Off." She said angrily.

"You heard the lady, it ain't none of your concern." A second man came around the corner also wearing a deputy's uniform.

"You see this guy, Jerry?" Shane asked indicating Daryl.

"Abby's a grown woman, she can do whatever she wants and you ain't her brother nor do deputies have the right to dictate a woman's social life." Jeremy retorted as he walked over and joined them. "Hey, Ab's!" He added as he bent forward and kissed her on the cheek, lingering a little too long but Shane and Daryl too busy were staring each other down to notice the exchange.

Abby blushed slightly. "Hey Jeremy. What are you boys doin' here anyhow? Aren't you are on duty?"

"Shane here pulled in, saw yer bike." Jeremy glared at Shane. "We'll be goin' now, ain't that right, Shane?"

It wasn't really a suggestion but Shane grumbled as Jeremy turned him and marched him back down the aisle. Abby shook her head in disbelief, then turned back to Daryl only to have her name called from the end of the aisle again. Abby looked back as Jeremy poked his head around the corner.

"FYI, Rick invited both of us over. Said you was cookin', looking forward to it!" He said winking. "Don't forget the beer!"

"Rick can't drink, he's still on meds!" She replied.

"Rick can't but we can!" He said then disappeared once more.

Abby looked back at Daryl and winced. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Can't say you didn't warn me. They the ones you called yer brothers _amigo's_?" Daryl asked and shrugged like he didn't care but he still looked a little annoyed.

"Sorry again, I'll buy you a whole case of beer for having to put up with that!" She said wincing once more.

"Bet you happy 'bout buying that house even more!" He said finally smirking a little.

"Yeah, too bad it ain't all that liveable. Gonna have to fix it up a little first before movin' in." She said sadly.

"You gonna hire people to do it for you?"

"Maybe for the electrical and plumbin' but I can handle the rest. I'm also pretty handy you know." She grinned. "Got the money to do it but since I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life, figure I better save it where I can."

"Want help? I pretty much learned how to fix most things in the house. Old man was useless an' our house was always falling apart. Just started doin' it myself." Daryl offered.

"You gonna stick around?" She asked surprised.

"Ain't nothin' better to do. Maybe get a job at a garage or something." Daryl said thoughtfully.

"Why don't you try in Haral? It's about twenty minutes away maybe a little less, got a pretty decent garage there. Use to buy parts there for my first bike." Abby suggested. "Where you stayin' anyways? I didn't see yer truck out front."

"Cus' I walked. Just stayin' at that motel down the block." Daryl answered.

"Well if you're gonna stick around, Haral will be much cheaper renting too. 'Bout half as much as here." Abby added. "As for you helpin' me, I'd be good with that, but you don't have too. 'Specially if you get a job."

"I don't mind." Daryl responded simply.

"Give me yer phone, I'll give you my number." She said. Daryl patted his pockets with his free hand, then pulled out an ancient flip phone. "This your phone? Surprised it still works!"

Daryl shrugged as he blushed. "Ain't big on technology. Rather spend my time huntin' in the woods and money on parts fer my truck. Mostly just use it if I get stranded somewhere or maybe orderin' pizza."

Abby flipped the phone open and looked for the contacts option. Once she selected it, she saw he only had one contact in it; Merle. She added her number than handed it back to him. "Nothing wrong with that, just been a while since I've seen a phone like that. You can get newer version of these for next to nothin', but smartphones are surprisingly easy to use and kinda handy. Even if you just use it to call."

"Probably should get a different one. Been on the fritz for a while but like I said, don't use it much." Daryl conceded. Abby backed up her cart to the frozen vegetables and grabbed a bag of mixed veggies, Daryl cocked an eyebrow. "You don't seem the type to use frozen shit."

Abby laughed, "I ain't, normally, but Lori don't have no garden so frozen is how its gonna have to be." She smiled at him. "I'd invite you over for supper but Rick'd have a cow an' I'm pretty sure you don't want to put up with him an' his buddies."

"The way those boy's behaved, prolly not a good of idea." Daryl agreed.

"I better get goin', see you around Daryl." Abby turned and rolled her cart away.

Several hours later, the Grimes', along with Shane and Jeremy all sat around the dining table, laughing and talking. Abby generally ignored anything Shane would say but interacted happily with everyone else. Rick wouldn't think anything of her giving Shane the cold shoulder, she never did get a long with him.

Jeremy on the other hand, had always made her blush and laugh like a teenager. Probably because she'd had a crush on him since she was a kid, they also had a history that she hoped Rick would never find out about. During the week after he'd woken up in hospital, she hadn't wanted to go home for a couple evenings, to be stuck with Lori for the evening, so instead spent it with Jeremy. They'd gotten drunk then ended up in bed together, not just once but twice and if Rick found out, it'd ruin their friendship for sure. He was always sweet to her, even when he was 'protecting' her. Jeremy found her eccentricities adorable instead of off putting like everyone else. Abby wondered if he hadn't been Rick's friend, if he would have actually tried to pursue her, if maybe he would now try.

Abby attention suddenly snapped back to the conversation when she heard Shane say. "You wouldn't believe who Abby's been hanging out with lately."

Abby glared at him. "Don't bother trying to throw me under the bus Shane, he already knows about me talkin' with Daryl. Not that its any of your business."

"What is this? Third grade, Shane?" Jeremy asked in irritation. "Seriously man."

"He's been outta the loop, figured he needed to know." Shane said shrugging.

"Shane, Abby an' I have a good relationship. There ain't much she don't tell me anymore. She's an adult, I learned to let go of tryin' to control her a long time ago. She is or was a Master Gunnery Sergeant, irresponsible people don't generally make it to that rank."

Abby sighed and pushed her chair back. "I'm tired, going to bed. Lori, I'll clean up in the morning."

"Don't worry about it." Lori said kindly as Abby retreated.

Abby went to her room and closed the door behind her, shutting out the sound of their conversation. She changed into her pajamas and laid down on her bed, pulling her phone out of her pocket and looking at it. She quickly scrolled through her messages and was shocked to see one from one of her men that she'd served with, Sergeant Lewis Wright, her spotter. He wrote:

 _Hey boss,  
Heard that you finally made it back to the states. Things ain't the same here since you left but we are getting on fine. They completely re-assigned our unit, most of us are not even it the same country any more. The guys I'm with  
now, are alright but it just ain't the same. Hope civilian life is sitting with you well. If ever need anything, just  
let me know._

 _Lewy_

Abby smiled, she missed her unit, they were a good bunch of guys. Lewis in particular; she spent a lot of time with him. Since he had been her spotter, when she had 'solo' type missions, he'd always be there with her, protecting her backside while she focused on the mission.

She made a quick response to his email, telling him about her brother, her divorce and her buying back her family farm. She tried word it to sound as upbeat as possible, especially since the last time she'd been with her unit, she'd been in the middle of a phycological break down. Once she'd sent the reply, she put her phone down and turned her lights off and almost instantly into a deep sleep.

111

 _Abby looked down the scope of her rifle from her fourth-floor perch, watching the activity below her. Beside her, she could hear someone talking to her quietly but for some reason she can't make out what they're saying. So, she focuses on the street below them. She smiles as see one her fellow Marine, a friend, Private Sandy Gable, giving out suckers to the children who are milling around her._

 _She was there escorting a couple doctors to a small clinic, while she waited for them to finish with there business, Sandy played the with children milling in the street and handed out suckers. Abby was there because there were rumors of suicide bombers in the area, trying to kill their soldiers. She was to take them out before they caused any damage._

 _Abby half acknowledged the young boy trotting over to the group but didn't really think much of his baggy coat or his hands in his pockets. It was a little chilly for the area so most of the children were intermittently putting their hands in sleeves or pockets to warm them up. The boy ran right up to Sandy and the next thing Abby knew she was being knocked back on to her ass._

Abby suddenly lurched up in her bed, sweat pouring down her face and body and breathing rapidly. Abby put her hands to the sides of her head as she tried to settle her heart beat and breathing down, but after ten minutes of attempting to retake control of her body, she decided she couldn't do it through meditation. So, despite her shortness of breath, she pulled on a pair of sweat pants, sweat shirt and grabbed her MP3 player. She walked out of her room, then headed straight out the front door, barefooted, and ran down the steps to the road, continuing down the street at full speed.

Abby pushed herself harder as images flashed through her mind, the laughing children, the chunks of flesh flying through the air, the blood splattered and fire seared ground, the injured who had been far enough to not be incinerated but not far enough to escape the blast.

Abby wasn't sure how long she ran but she was on clear on the other side of town and had started circling around the edge of the town, ignoring the pain in her bare feet. Suddenly a car slowly rolled up beside her and kept pace with her. She was pretty sure someone was calling her, as it followed her for at least a block but the images flashing through mind wasn't stopping nor was the music drowning out the sounds and she couldn't focus on anything more than churning her legs and trying to clear her mind. Suddenly the vehicle accelerated and pulled in front of her forcing her to stop, Abby tried to go around it but as she ran around the bumper, a hand grabbed a firm hold of her arm.

"Let go!" She screamed at him.

She hazily acknowledged that it was Shane who had her arm and she reefed on it again, trying to pulled it from his grasp. He grabbed hold of both of her shoulders and ducked down to look her in the eye but his face was replaced by the gore filled images that had been racing through her vision since she'd woken up. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and put her fists to her eyes and screamed at him again to let her go. When he didn't let go of her, her right fist came up and popped him in the eye.

Shane stumbled back a step but didn't let her go. After taking a moment to recollect himself, Shane spun her around and brought her arm up painfully behind her all the while she was screaming at him to leave her alone, to let her go, as he put cuffs on her and shoved her into the back of his car. She was now in hysteric's, kicking the divider and screaming, leaving bloody foot prints on the glass.

When she arrived at the station, she kicked whoever was trying to get her out of the back of the car, then she thrashed, kicked and screamed the whole way when they finally got her out of the back of the car. They put her in a cell by herself, probably scared she might hurt someone and they were probably right about that but she couldn't really focus on anything except the images as they only intensified with every moment while she paced the floor, the sounds started overwhelming her as well, now that she no longer hand her headphones to compete with the sounds in her head.

She wasn't sure how long she was in that cell, she knew several people came to try and talk to her, probably people she knew but she was too out of it. When someone would come over she'd just scream at them to let her out. Abby eventually just collapsed on the ground and started sobbing, pressing her eyes to her knees and hands to her ears.

She suddenly heard a low voice near her and she immediately swung but she felt her fist get deflected and then her wrist was firmly grabbed. She looked angrily at the person who'd disturbed her and everything paused, her vision cleared enough for her to acknowledge Rick's face looking at her worriedly.

"What do you need, baby girl?" She heard his muffled voice say.

"To run." She whispered.

He helped her to her feet and guided her out of the cell against the protests of someone else. She could feel herself loosing control again but then she saw a treadmill in the room Rick had guided her to and her vision zeroed in on it. She let go of Rick and practically ran to it, jammed at the buttons and turned it on to full speed.

"Easy, baby girl, you need shoes." She heard Rick say but she ignored him and tried to focus on one spot on the wall as she pushed her self to the max.

She saw Rick pull his phone out of his pocket and dial a number, from the corner of her eye. She tried to focus on what he was saying so she could prevent the images and sounds from returning and from what she could make out, he was calling her head doctor. He hung up eventually, then called another number. When he hung up again, he looked at her.

"I'll be right back, okay?" He said looking at her worriedly.

Abby nodded her head in acknowledgment, he then turned and walked off. Sometime later he returned with a pill bottle and a bottle of water. He opened up the pill bottle, poured a couple of pills into his hand and walked up to her and held them out to her but she shook her head.

"Come on, baby girl. The doc says you need them. It'll make the image flashes go away. Abigail…please." He pleaded.

She reluctantly held out her hand, still running, and he put them in her hand. She put them in her mouth as he then handed her the opened bottle of water. She drank deeply then handed the bottle back to him and kept going. After another ten minutes, he slowed the treadmill down in increments until it came to a complete stop.

He grabbed her hand as she shakily stepped off the treadmill and guided her to a couch and helped her sit down. He gave her the bottle of water again and she drained it as he lifted her feet and slathered some cream on her first foot, then wrapped it and repeated it with her other foot before sitting down beside her. When the water was completely gone, she put her head on Rick's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her as she began to cry. He gently rocked her back and forth and murmured softly to her. Eventually her eyes got heavy and she slowly drifted into utter darkness.

111

The next morning, she woke up feeling incredibly groggy as a hand shook her shoulder. Abby rolled onto her back and looked at the face attached to the hand, Rick.

"Hey, baby girl." He said softly. "Doctor Grainger is here, he wants to talk to you."

Abby looked down at herself feeling very confused. She was wearing sweats, not her pajama's and Rick looked very worried. She groaned as things started to come back to her, putting her hands to her face. When she finally collected herself, she sat up.

"I'm so sorry Rick!" She apologized. "I think…I think I even punched Shane…well I'm not sure if I'm sorry 'bout that but still…"

"I'm surprised you haven't hit him sooner." Rick chuckled slightly, then shook his head in irritation. "I can't believe he didn't call me sooner." He grabbed her wrists and frowned at them, they were rubbed raw from her thrashing around in cuffs.

"That's probably my fault." She said softly.

"You gave me a pretty good scare, last night." He said just as softly.

"I'm sorry." She apologized again. "How did you get me home?"

"Shane helped me get you in the car and then in side." He said shrugging. "Probably coulda handled you myself, but everyone is 'fraid of me hurting myself."

"Why was Shane even workin'?" She asked frowning. "Didn't he have the night off?"

"He technically wasn't, but a concerned neighbor called him when they saw you running hard in bare feet an' he went to check on you." Rick said. "'Nother thing that annoys me; they shoulda been callin' me! Anyways, I'll let you get cleaned up an' dressed. You'll probably have to seriously pad your feet, they were pretty raw. We'll be in the living room."

"Okay." She replied uncertainly and then watched as he left.

Abby sighed, this was definitely not how she wanted to start her day. She limped to the bathroom to take a quick shower and got dressed, wrapping her feet in fresh gauze like Rick had recommended, before meeting with the good doctor. It was just before lunch by the time she left her room, and being on a weekday, meant that Carl would be in school. As she walked from her room to the living room, she didn't see Lori anywhere, so Abby assumed that Rick must have sent her away, if he had, she was grateful.

"Good morning, Sergeant King." The doctor greeted from where he sat beside Rick as she entered the room.

"I go by my maiden name now, Grimes. I'm in the process of getting divorced." She replied as she sat down in the arm chair wearily.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He said sympathetically. "Your brother here, called me last night, very worried. Can you tell me what happened?"

Abby shrugged. "I had one of my nightmares last night. I tried to calm myself down by breathing slowly but when that didn't work, I grabbed my music and went for a run. Shane…Deputy Walsh, he stopped me in the middle of trying to calm myself down, I told him to leave me alone but he wouldn't. I got agitated and punched him, then he arrested me and things just got worse."

"Worse how?" He asked studying her.

"At first, images from my dream would just flash in front of me but when Shane stopped me...they started lingering, playing over and over again. Then the explosions and screams...I got sucked in." Abby shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Which dream was it?" The Doctor asked softly.

"The day Sandy... Private Sandy Gable died, the suicide bomber..." Abby choked on the last word.

"Were you thinking about the Private earlier on in the day?" The doctor was obviously trying to now find her catalyst.

"No, I haven't really thought about anything that happened over there in weeks but..." Abby paused and thought about last night.

"But, what Sergeant?"

"I checked my emails last night. I got one from Lewy... Sergeant Lewis Wright but it was a good email...I don't know why it would have set me off." She looked at the doctor quizzically.

"It is likely the sum of many things. You just said you're getting divorced and your brother here, was telling me he was recovering from being shot and falling into a coma." The doctor replied. "Stress can trigger episodes. It doesn't necessarily have to do what originally caused the PTSD."

"I thought you said I was getting better?" Abby said annoyed. "Now I have to worry about snapping every time I get stressed?"

"Not exactly, your symptoms _have_ decreased dramatically! You _are_ getting better but are bound to have a few set backs every once in a while."

"Should she be stayin' on those drugs?" Rick asked speaking up for the first time.

"No. Those are to help her when she's really stuck in her flashback's, it's nothing to worry about." The doctor assured him, then looked back at Abby. "Overall, how do you think you were doing before last night?"

"Good. I haven't had any intense dreams since I got back... until last night. I've been functioning normally, even happy despite getting divorced." She answered truthfully.

"Would you agree, mister Grimes?" Doctor Grainger asked, looking at Rick once more.

"I've only been home for a couple days but from what I've seen, she seems normal. Lori hasn't brought anything to my attention either." Rick said agreeing with Abby.

"Well Sergeant Grimes, I don't think you have to be terribly concerned. If you have more episodes that happen in a short amount of time, then I'd be concerned. I've given your brother more detailed instructions on what he should do, if you have another episode. I see no reason to recall you or have you admitted. Seeking out a therapist will help you but its nothing more than a recommendation." Doctor Grainger said as he got to his feet and stuck out his hand.

Abby took it and shook it firmly. "Thank you for coming out, Doc."

"Of course. Remember, if you need to talk, just give me a call!" He said sincerely. Doctor Grainger gathered his things, and left them a lone.

Two hours later Abby sat alone in the living room, reading one of the books that Martin had sent in the package he had sent her before she'd found him out. Her phone buzzed, startling her from her book, notifying her that she'd received a text message. She picked up her phone and looked at it. Shocked, she put her bookmark in her book and looked out the front window.

The text read: _Can I come to the door? -Daryl_

Out front, his pick up was parked in front of the sidewalk, idling. _Absolutely!_ She sent back and then quickly checked her reflection in the mirror. Thankfully, Rick, Lori and Carl were all going out for supper today. They'd invited her to go with them but she declined, preferring to spend her day at home after the night she had previously. She walked to the door and opened it just as Daryl walked up the steps.

"Hey." He said by way of greeting.

"Hey, come in." She said, opening the door all the way. Daryl looked in uncertainly before stepping in side and looking around uncomfortably. "It just me right now, probably will be for the next couple of hours."

Daryl didn't say anything but nodded by way of reply.

"So, you just come for a visit or with a specific purpose?" Abby asked leading him to the living room.

"Uhh…" Daryl started be then shifted uncomfortably. "A-are you okay?"

Abby face turned to stone. "What do you mean?" She asked softly, pretty sure she knew what he meant.

"Saw you jogging, you looked…I dunno, not right. I mean you were burning up the pavement pretty quickly, barefooted, called you but you didn't respond. Saw that you had headphones on but somethin' didn't seem right, so I got in my truck an' followed you a little." Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "I wasn't stalkin' you or anythin' I jus…I jus' got concerned. Then saw that Shane guy stop you and backed off but I saw him tryin' to talk to you an'…"

"And I was freaking out." Abby finished. "I…I have PTSD." She paused and saw the surprised look on his face before looking down. "That's why I retired, I had too. I've been fine for months but the Doc says I had too much stress lately, then mixed with a message I got from one of my marine buddies…it set me off."

"But are you okay? I mean, you punched that ass hole and then you fought him hard as he put you in the back of his car. Saw you kickin' an' screamin' as he rolled by." He inspected her face carefully.

"Managed to not hurt myself too badly, my feet are a little raw that's all. Rick came by the station, calmed me down." She was now feeling very pathetic. Here was a guy she liked, seemed much more her type of person than anyone she'd ever met, someone she wouldn't ever get sick of and now he'd witnessed her losing it. She wouldn't blame him if he turned tail and ran.

She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and the gesture caught Daryl's attention, as he reached out and carefully grabbed her hand. He held her hand gently in his own as he rubbed his thumb over the burn marks left behind by the cuffs. Abby cleared her throat, feeling awkward and gently pulled her hands away.

"Are you hungry? Have you eaten?" She asked suddenly turning and moving for the kitchen. "Made a bit too much lasagna. Still have almost half of it left."

"I could eat." He said following her to the kitchen.

She opened the fridge, pulled out the casserole dish. "Rick loves my lasagna, I make it pretty much the same as our mother did but even he would probably get sick of it having it for a week straight." She cut a piece and looked at Daryl. "Is that big enough or do you want more?"

"Maybe a little more." Daryl said sheepishly.

She smiled at him and cut a little more then grabbed a lifter and lifted it onto a plate, then put it into the microwave. While it heated the lasagna, she opened the fridge once more and pulled out a beer and handed it to Daryl. He took it, popped the cap and wandered over to the window that looked into the backyard.

"Yer brother got a nice house." He commented.

"Yeah but it'll be nice to get my own place. Been here for a month and a half now, gettin' a little claustrophobic." Abby said as she grabbed her own beer.

"Saw some kid stuff, yer brother got kids?" He asked as he turned around and leaned against the counter.

"Yeah one son, Carl. He's twelve going thirteen in another couple month. He's the spitting image of his daddy." She said smiling. "Rick wants more but Lori is happy with one kid. You like kids?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don't know. Never had much contact with 'em."

"Well Carl's a good kid, you'd probably like him. Don't listen to his momma the best but he certainly listens to Rick." Abby chuckled. "Probably because Lori babies him too much an' Rick don't take no shit."

The microwave beeped and Abby fetched the plate, grabbed a fork from the drawer and put both on the table and indicated for him to sit. He took his seat, putting down his beer and picked up his fork. He shoved a fork full into his mouth then after a few chews he looked up at her surprised.

"Is that a good surprise or a bad surprise?" Abby asked apprehensively, surprised at how much she wanted him to like it.

"Naw, its good!" He exclaimed the quickly shoved a second fork full in his mouth.

Abby rolled her eyes. "You're just sayin' that."

"I ain't shittin' you." He said through a mouthful of food, then washed it down with a gulp of beer. "Damn girl, you can cook!"

Abby laughed and sat down. "Really?"

Daryl just nodded and shoved more in his mouth. She watched as he wolfed down the rest of the lasagna, then chug back his beer then let out a belch. He suddenly blushed, realizing whom he was keeping company with.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"'s okay. I lived with a bunch of guys for many years, I'll just take the belching as a compliment." She said laughing.

"It was."

"'Nother beer?" She asked.

"Sure." He replied then continued as she got up. "Took yer advice, went to Haral to see if there was a job opening at the garage and sure enough, a guy had quit last week. They were desperate for 'nother pair of hands so they're willin' to give me a chance."

"That's great!" She said enthusiastically as she grabbed another beer. "It'll probably be mostly farm equipment and trucks but it should be good for you. Did you ask around 'bout a place?"

"Yeah s'pose to talk to someone tomorrow." He answered as he took the beer from her. "Is there a place for you to buy stuff for yer house 'round here?"

"Depends on what kind of stuff. Basic buildin' stuff like drywall, mud, wiring, nails and shit or some furniture but you have to go to Atlanta or one of the other cities to get counter an' stuff. Why?" She looked at him inquiringly.

"Figure you should start plannin', you know figurin' what you want an' where you can get it from. Have you been inside it? Yer house?" Daryl finally asked.

"No, just saw it from outside." She answered.

Daryl got to his feet. "C'mon, lets go look!"

"I don't have the keys, yet." She said.

"Don't matter, you own it an' I'll get you in." He said smirking.

Abby studied Daryl a moment then shrugged. "Why not, no one's been livin' there for a while anyways."

She put everything away, then made a quick note for Rick so he wouldn't worry, then followed Daryl to his truck. As they walked by her bike, he nodded towards it.

"Gonna have to let me drive it one day." He commented. "Feels like an eternity since I've been able to drive one "

"Well maybe with a job, you can get yerself another one." She suggested while smiling, happy that he seemed okay with her still, even if she was a bit unstable.

"That'd be great." Daryl grunted as he walked around to the driver side door and opened it.

"I probably could let you give me a ride..." She paused then smiled. "How about now?"

Suddenly Daryl grinned wickedly and for the first time since she was a teenager, she blushed. "Hell ya!" He replied with quiet enthusiasm.

She pulled out her keys and jangled them. Still grinning, he slammed the door of his truck shut and walked up to her. She was about to drop them into he outstretched hand but a thought crossed her mind.

"Wait, let me get my jacket first!" She hurried up the front steps, unlocked the front door and ran inside. Once she grabbed her jacket, she hurried back out and tossed him the keys.

"I only have one helmet." She said as he climbed on

"That's fine, you can use it. S'not far, right?" He asked as she climbed behind him.

"Barely five minutes of highway driving, then the rest of the way is dirt road. I'll point out the turns for you." Abby replied.

Daryl nodded and fired up her Harley, she could see him grin even more in the side mirror. Abby put her hands on his waist as he backed her bike off of the driveway and then took off down the street. Abby had mildly apprehensive about letting him drive, worried that he might have been telling her a fish story about being able to drive but he shifted through his gears perfectly and was utterly relaxed as he negotiated corners.

Abby smiled as they drove along, she'd never really sat behind while someone else drove a motorcycle. She been a rebel when she'd bought her first motorcycle, the society in which she'd grown up had been very...square. You didn't get tattoos, women always dressed well and never swore, always did what you were told. And you didn't drive motorcycle's. She admitted there were times when it was impractical to drive one, like getting groceries or buying TV's but that was what family was for, right?

Daryl slowed down quite a bit for the loose dirt roads as they rolled down the final road. She had found whole ride immensely enjoyable, not really having to concentrate on the road but gazing at her surroundings as they cruised down the road. She'd forgotten how beautiful it was here, she missed it and watching the landscape roll by made her even happier to have purchased her family property.

Abby tapped Daryl on the shoulder and pointed to an upcoming driveway. He nodded, slowing down even more before turning on to it and coming to a stop shortly after. There was no longer anything on the road to block the entrance but there was still a chain hanging across the road, preventing them from driving further.

When Daryl came to a complete stop, Abby climbed off and hung her helmet from the bars as Daryl also got off. Abby then approached the chain and crawled over. Daryl followed as she continued down the driveway looking first at the forest like she had the day before, then, when they walked down the long drive, at the three dilapidated building's.

"Everything's definitely gonna need a new roof." He commented. "Yer paddock looks good on the outside, just needs a fresh coat of paint."

He walked over to it and pulled on the door, with a bit of effort he managed to get it open. She followed him in side and felt a wave of nostalgia hit her as she stared at the eight horse stalls. Besides the front where the tack room had once been, lay a bunch of rotten timber, but the rest of the paddock looked virtually untouched from when her family had owned it. There was even the hand carved name plates of the horses they'd own, still on the stall doors.

Abby walked up to one that read _Thunder,_ and slowly fingered the letters. "These are all from the horses my family used to own." She said drawing his attention to what she was looking at. "Thunder was my barrel racing horse, she was an amazing mare."

"You barrel raced?" He asked, sounding surprised. When she nodded, he continued. "That I can actually see. I can see you bein' a cowgirl."

Abby chuckled. "Thanks, I think."

"Don't look rotten in here, shouldn't take too much to fix it up." Daryl said as he walked around the paddock. "Let's look at the other buildin's."

They moved out of the paddock and moved over to the barn. These doors where on hinges and groaned loudly as the swung open. The whole building looked flimsy, it shuddered with every gust of wind and when they went inside it didn't look any better. Daryl was so uncomfortable with the building that he didn't want to walk passed the door nor linger, so they went to the house.

He helped her up on to the porch and tested every board he stepped on, that remained on the front porch, before putting his whole weight on it. He tried the front door but it was locked, so he moved over to the window that was over a few feet. When he pushed up on the window edge, it opened an inch. After several minutes of working at it, he finally got it opened just enough that they could squeeze through.

Once inside Daryl let out a whistle after a quick look around the room. "Definitely got potential! These floors need refinishin' but they look great. Looks like it was amazin' at one point."

"It was, my parents took pride in their home. Its so sad to see it in this state." She said as she looked around sadly.

"You'll make it great again." He said sincerely.

Abby smiled at him, then led the way as they walked from what had been the living room into the formal dining room. The walls were layered with wallpaper but in most areas, it was either peeling, bubbling or pulling away from the wall entirely and in some areas, they plaster beneath had been exposed and cracking. Daryl frowned and walked over to a particularly bad bubble that was on an exterior wall and poked it, making it make a wet squishing sound.

"That doesn't sound good. Where do you think the moisture is comin' from?" She asked, also frowning.

"I'd say either yer shitty roof or leaky plumbin'. Although I'd put my money on the roof since the walls so wet an' no one's been livin' here." Daryl replied as he studied the ceiling above. "I imagine this place is hooked up to wells?"

"Yup. It's about twenty acres of land and has four wells. Two near the house and the others are out by the pastures where my grandfather kept cattle." She replied as she strolled to the kitchen. She smiled sadly as she entered. "Man, so many memories in here. Used to help my mom cook here all the time! When my grandma was still around, she'd teach me all the family recipes. Since mom wasn't an actual Grimes, she wasn't a loud to know."

Daryl snorted. "What is it with women an' 'secret' recipes?"

Abby laughed. "I dunno, tradition I guess."

The kitchen was in pretty terrible condition also, doors were missing from cabinet's, there was a whole section of upper cabinets missing, as was a whole set of drawers. The sink, blessedly was still there. It was an old farm sink, the kind that people were paying thousands for. She walked up to it and ran her hands along it.

"Well I'm glad this is here, saves me at least a thousand bucks, probably more." She said looking back at him.

"Fer real?" He said in disbelief and Abby laughed. He walked over and looked at it. "Enamels a little damaged but it probably can be fixed."

"Yeah but these cabinets are done for, too bad to, they're oak." She said sadly.

"Don't know what they did, water damage all over them. Stink's in here, so I'm thinkin' dogs." Daryl said as he looked out the back door that led to the other part of the porch. "Gonna cost you a pretty penny to replace that wrap 'round porch."

They continued on to the half bath, the only bedroom on the first floor, and then the den. All were in similar condition; peeling wallpaper and damaged plaster. They returned to the front of the house to the foyer, then climbed the stairs to the upper floor. The floors on the upper level were in terrible condition, what you could see of the hardwood was severely water damaged. In most of the rooms, they had put down carpet in them but were soiled beyond saving; not that she would, they were hideous without the stains.

"You think you'll replace the carpet?" He asked her as they stood in a doorway.

"Nope, all hardwoods. Probably gonna take down every stitch of plaster too and replace all the windows but I'm gonna see if I can get 'em to look like the originals." She said then looked at him. "Thanks for bringin' me here, it's made my day and got me thinkin'."

Daryl shrugged smirking a little bashfully. "Thought it'd get yer mind off of things."

"Does it bother you that I'm a little…crazy?" She asked quietly.

"You ain't crazy, got some issues, maybe, but everyone does. I might not have PTSD but I'm pretty sure I'm more messed up than you. You at least had a good upbringing, a good family. My old man was an abusive ass hole…" Daryl suddenly looked away, after a moment he shifted his weight and mumbled. "I say a lot of stupid shit around you."

He turned and walked briskly back down the steps, unlocked the front door and walked outside. Apparently, Daryl's father was a sore spot for him, one that he didn't like exposing. She sighed sadly, he was right about one thing…well a couple things but she was fortunate to have such a wonderful family.

She walked down the stairs to the front door, locked it than walked outside. When she managed to get off the porch without hurting herself, she walked over to where Daryl leaned against a tree smoking. When saw her approach, he looked down again.

"Sorry...you must think I'm completely idiotic, walking out like that with just a mention...I just don't..." Daryl kicked the ground in irritation.

"Its fine. A sensitive topic, I get it. At least you don't turn into a screaming banshee when someone touches on something that bothers you." She pulled the cigarette from between his fingers and pulled a long drag from it before giving it back.

He looked up at her surprised. "Didn't think you smoked!"

"I don't or at least not any more. I did when I was a teenager, quit when I joined the Marines. I occasionally bummed a hit off my Marine buddies from time to time but don't 'smoke' any more." She said making quotation marks in the air when she said smoke.

Daryl just nodded his head in acknowledgement and for a long time they just stood there while he finished his cigarette. When he finished, Abby tilted her head in the direction of the woods.

"Let's go for a walk." She suggested.

Daryl nodded and together they walked silently into the woods. As they walked, Daryl would casually try and look over at her. He tried to be discreet but she could tell he was watching her. As they walked, they spotted several animals scampering across the ground and when a big rabbit went bolting by, Daryl sighed.

"Shoulda brought my crossbow." He grumbled.

"You hunt with a _crossbow_?" She asked in shock.

"Yeah." He said slowly, not sure what to make of her response.

"That's awesome! You gotta show me it!" She said excitedly.

Daryl smirked. "Sure. Can't say I've met a woman who's gotten excited 'bout a crossbow b'fore."

"Probably never met one who's described a gun as a thing of beauty, either!" she replied laughing. "Come on, its starting to get dark. My brother will start freakin' out if I don't get home soon, he worries a lot. Especially after last night." She dug into her pocket pulled out her phone, sure enough Rick texted her.

 _Where are you? Got home sooner than we expected._ He wrote.

 _I'm fine, just with a friend. Will be home soon. Daryl is gonna drop me off, be nice_. She replied.

"Yer brother?" He asked pointing towards the phone in her hand with his chin.

"Yup like I said, he worries." She rolled her eyes.

"At least you got someone lookin' out for you." He said smirking. "What he gonna make of me?"

Abby sighed, "I don't know. He's never been nice to guys who take even a mild interest in me but it's been ten years and he's a cop now, maybe he's mellowed out now."

"Yeah well cops take one look at me an' think I'm trouble…most people do." He grumbled as he stepped over a log and reached back to help her.

"Rick's generally pretty good in that department. He generally gives the benefit of the doubt." She said taking his hand and stepping over the log.

* * *

I don't know why but I've always loved writing Abby/Rick interactions, it just makes me happy. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter!

-Shockra


	4. Chapter 4

Hey! How's all of my readers? Me? I'm so happy it's spring and that I'm finally over my stupid cold! I actually had to take a whole week off of work! I've never taken more than two days at a time, it was awful! But I'm better now and looking forward to planting flowers and going to the lake! Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

Abby smiled, not a bad way to end an otherwise bad day. Her and Daryl had exited the forest almost right beside her bike. As they walked towards it, a man walked down the driveway towards them. It took a moment but Abby knew the man and waved as he approached.

"Oh, it's just you, Abby, shoulda guessed." Robert, her old and now new neighbor, said as he walked over.

"Yeah it's just me." Abby said smirking.

"Was on the way home, saw yer bike parked in the drive. Thought I should check an' make sure it wasn't no hooligans." He said stopping just in front of them.

"I appreciate that, this place don't need no help lookin' worse." Abby said appreciatively.

"Yeah, I just heard you bought the place back. Your daddy and grand-daddy are probably turnin' in their graves right now. Glad a Grimes got it back. I'm sure you'll make it right." He said nodding his head.

"Well I intend to try at least." Abby said laughing.

"Good to know." Robert said smiling. "Who's this? Don't think I've seen you b'fore."

"This is Daryl Dixon, a friend." Abby said, indicting Daryl.

"Any friend of Abby Grimes, is a friend of mine!" Robert said enthusiastically, sticking his hand out. "Robert Callahan, pleased to meet you!"

Daryl took his hand and shook it, looking at him a little leery. Probably not used to people being so friendly with him but old Robert was friendly to everyone until you gave him reason not to.

"I have known this girl since she was in diapers." Robert continued. "Sweet as can be so long as you don't piss her off. She didn't inherit the Grimes level head like her brother."

"Hey!" Abby said slapping Robert on the arm playfully.

"Well, I'll leave y'all. Good evenin'." He said walking to where his truck was parked just off the road.

Abby smiled at Daryl as he climbed on to her bike and handed her, her helmet. Once she put it on and buckled it up, she climbed behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. As he drove back towards town, she focused more on the man to which she had her hands on.

At first, she like the way he looked and talked but the more she got to know him, the more she wanted to know. She found him curious. In some ways he seemed confident, most certainly in his abilities but when it came to people he was very distrusting and damaged. She imagined it had something to do with the comment he'd made about his father, if your own father hurt you, then anyone would have trust issues. He also reacted to uncomfortable social situations with hostility and anger. He certainly didn't trust other men. He also didn't seem to trust women either but she was certain for different reasons.

Beneath his long sleeve plaid shirt, she could feel that he definitely had a muscular upper body and that made her whole body warm up and mind wander. While it hadn't been a long time since she'd been with a man, she hadn't had a lot of physical contact let alone shown true affection and it was starting to become very difficult resisting the urge to join this man in his bed. Thankfully, Daryl wasn't an overly flirtatious. If he had been, she'd probably be there now, or maybe in the woods.

Pretty much the moment Daryl pulled to a stop on the driveway, the porch light came one and out came Rick with Lori spying out of the window. Rick came up and quirked an eyebrow as they got off.

"I'm surprised she let you drive." He commented.

"He used to have his own but his brother totalled his bike. Missed drivin' one so I let him drive mine." Abby stated.

"The man has his own voice." Rick said to her then turned to Daryl and stuck his hand out. "Rick Grimes, Abigail's older brother."

"Daryl." He responded evenly, obviously trying to give a good first impression. "Daryl Dixon. She's talked a lot 'bout you."

"Has she? Good things I hope. Why don't you come in for a beer?" Rick asked sounding friendly but Abby was suspicious.

"Rick?" Abby warned.

"It's alright, maybe next time. Gotta be in Haral early in the mornin', probably should be hittin' the hay." Daryl answered coolly.

"What's in Haral?" Rick inquired still, putting on the air of friendliness.

"My job an' hopefully a place to live." Daryl asked pretending to be oblivious to Rick's interrogation.

"Oh? Haral ain't that big. Where you workin'?" Rick asked.

"The garage, just startin' on Monday though." Daryl said honestly.

"Okay, enough with the interrogation, Rick. Go inside." She said turning him and shoving him towards the house. He smirked over his shoulder at her then walked into the house.

"Sorry 'bout him." She said wincing.

"Was expecting worse." Daryl said shrugging as they walked down the driveway towards his truck.

"If he got you inside, it might've been." Abby said sighing.

"I can handle a little hostility, he's just tryin' to protect you. I respect that." Daryl said as they walked to his trucks door.

"I can take care of myself." Abby grumbled making Daryl smirk.

"So you can, but he's still yer brother." Daryl opened the door and rested his arm on the frame.

"Let me know if you get the place, 'kay?" Abby requested.

"Sure. I hope your night is better than yer last." Daryl said softly, looking at her slightly worried.

"I'm sure it will. Good night Daryl." She walked around the front of his truck as he climbed inside. When he pulled away, she waved, then once he was out of sight, she went inside.

Once inside, Abby found Rick leaning against the wall by the living room, smiling. "Just a friend, huh?"

"We are!" She exclaimed crossing her arms over her chest.

"You let him drive you on your bike." He said quirking an eyebrow.

"I agree with Shane, he looks like trouble." Lori said coming out of the living room.

Abby's face hardened, Rick seemed to be handling Daryl's presence alright but she didn't much appreciate Lori's comment. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'don't judge a book by its cover'?" She asked.

"She's right Lori, he didn't seem that bad. Only had a thirty-second conversation with him but he seemed alright. From what Jerry said, he handled Shane harassing him like a champ." Rick said surprising Abby.

"You never like men who've take interest in Abby before?!" Lori exclaimed in shock. "Why are you being so cool with this one?"

"She wasn't grown up then an' they most certainly weren't men." Rick replied to Lori, then looked at Abby. "What were you doin' anyways?"

Lori suddenly looked smug, probably thinking that Rick was about to change his mind about Daryl. "He thought I should start plannin', so we went to the house and looked around. You're not gonna be happy when you see it."

Rick winced. "That bad?"

"Probably the only thing that's gonna be saveable is the floors on the main floor and the kitchen sink." She answered, annoyed.

Rick shook his head. "It was in great shape when I sold it, can't believe it could deteriorate so much in eleven years!"

"The paddock needs a new roof and maybe a little repair but it seems alright but the barn looks like it's about to fall over." She added sadly.

"Shit. You officially signin' the papers tomorrow an' get the keys, right?" He asked.

"Yup." She answered.

"Maybe we can go to Atlanta and do a little shopping afterwards. I wanna see it first, before we leave if we go, so _I_ know what you need." Rick said nodding to himself.

Abby laughed. "Sure. I shouldn't be short on help."

Lori frowned shaking her head. "Rick, you can't go to the city! You're not healthy enough to be running around Atlanta!?"

Rick rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Lori. It's not like I'll be carryin' anything heavy, that stuff'll probably be delivered."

"Yeah, mostly it'll be lumber, insulation and drywall. I might pick up a bunch of paint chips and catalogues for various things like cabinets or counter tops. Probably mostly window shopping. I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he don't push himself too much." Abby said.

Lori threw up her hands and walked off to their bedroom. Rick straightened up and walked over to Abby and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't lose your head, baby girl. I'm trusting you know the difference between good man and a shitty one now, even if you're just 'friends' with him."

Abby rolled her eyes as he smiled and patted her cheek, then turned and followed after Lori. Abby then walked into her own room and closed the door, only to nearly have a heart attack as she heard knocking on her window. When she pushed the curtain aside, she saw Jeremy standing in the window, smiling at her sheepishly. Abby gave him an 'are you crazy' look as she opened the window.

"What are you doing?" She asked once she got it open. "There's this thing called a front door."

"Yeaaah." Jeremy said rubbing the back of his head. "This is a conversation I'd rather your brother not hear or know about. Can we go for a walk?"

Abby sighed. "Fine but you coulda called instead of giving me a heart attacking."

She turned and grabbed her cowboy boots from where she'd dropped them on the ground, then squeezed through the window and dropped to the ground with Jeremy's assistance. Abby slid on her boots, then followed Jeremy down the side of the house, then down the street. After a block, he looked over at her as they continued to walked.

"So…are you okay? We haven't talked since before your…episode." Jeremy continued to looked over at her worriedly.

"Were you there?" Abby asked, she genuinely couldn't remember anything from the point that Shane had picked her up until Rick came and settled her down.

"Yeah. It wasn't just Rick that you worried." Jeremy said, gently grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop.

"Did I hurt you?" She asked, not able to meet his eye. "I know I hit Shane but I don't really remember anything after that."

"You may have crushed my nuts but I didn't need those." Jeremy said trying to sound light-hearted.

Abby winced. "Sorry."

Jeremy put a hand on her shoulder. "So long as yer okay, then I don't care."

"Yeah, I'm good now. It was jus' the stress of everything that's been going on, getting to me. I'm okay now though." Abby said, feeling once again, pathetic.

"Glad to hear it." Jeremy said, tilting her chin up. "But that's not why I'm here. At least, not entirely. I wanna talk 'bout what happened between us."

"What about it?" Abby asked softly.

"I have something I need to say." Jeremy said, then when Abby nodded her head, he continued. "I know you and I have known each other forever and we've hooked up more than once over the years and I know I should've said this sooner but I think I'm in love with you. When you and Martin first started dating…I shoulda stepped in then but you were nineteen and I was twenty-three and then Rick…I didn't want to have to chose between you or him."

"Except you did." Abby said softly. "Why are you saying this now?"

"Because I've left it unsaid for too long. I know it's too late, you got that Daryl guy chasing you now and I want you to know that I support you, no matter whom you date, I'll be there for you. Rick's my best friend, my brother and I can't let go of that."

"You dragged me out here to say that?" Abby asked in disbelief. " _I'm in love with you but we'll never be a thing_?"

Jeremy chuckled awkwardly. "In my head, it sounded a lot better."

Abby finally looked up and smirked slightly. "Its fine, you've always been as eloquent as a mute."

"Oh, ouch." Jeremy said rubbing his head.

"Besides, we were piss assed drunk the last two times we hooked up and I was seventeen the times before that, its not like we really had a real relationship."

"Does Martin know? That you and I hooked up _before_ you caught him in the act?" Jeremy asked.

"No and that was different. I was faithful to him for years, I practically threw myself at him to get his attention but he never reciprocated! Don't take this personally but the only reason we hooked up when Rick was in hospital was because I was desperate for attention, to be comforted, to feel loved and I know you'd make me feel good, even drunk."

"I'll take it as a compliment." Jeremy said then stepped forward and hugged her. "I really should've stopped you and Martin from getting married, maybe you'd have never left and joined the military."

Abby hugged him back. "I don't actually regret my choice to join, just may be shoulda retired sooner."

Jeremy stepped back and pushed some of her hair out of her face. "C'mon, I'll walk you back home."

111

The next morning, Rick got up bright and early to go with her to the lawyer's office to watch as she signed the last documents and finally receive the keys to their family home. They then went straight to the farm together in Rick's vehicle, removed the heavy chain that blocked the path and drove up to the house. Rick sighed sadly as he stepped out and stared at the depressing view of the house.

"Wait 'til you get inside." Abby told him.

Rick only got more depressed as they walked through the house, he couldn't believe the condition it was in. He had brought a ladder, which they used to climb up onto the roof and inspected the damage up close.

"You should probably get this done professionally. The roof needed to be replaced already before I sold it, it obviously not got done. Dad had planned to get the material and do it that weekend that they died." Rick said shaking his head sadly.

"So probably roof first, then the plumbing and electrical." Abby stated.

"Yeah, that'd probably be wise. We can tear it all out first in the meantime." Rick confirmed.

After about an hour of closely inspecting the house, the two of the finally headed off for the city. On the way, Abby got a text from Daryl saying that he got the place he'd been wanting to look at. She was a little surprised with how long the text had been considering how ancient his phone was but then she suddenly got the suspicion that he might've traded up for a smart phone like she'd suggested. She then called a couple of companies, while they drove, to make appointments for roofing, electrical and plumbing.

Once they reached the city, Rick started getting annoyed as he drove through the city traffic. He wasn't really accustomed to big city driving like she was, so the constant traffic jams got under his skin. When they finally got to a big hardware store, Rick finally mellowed out again as he was more in his element. He loaded up the cart for her with tools he figured she needed, then worked out with one of the workers, how much lumber and drywall she'd need.

They then went to look at cabinets and countertops; Abby didn't commit to anything but took pictures with her phone of things she liked and bought several magazines to give her ideas on the finishes for the house. By the time they left the city again it was nearly three. As they drove down the highway back home, Abby's phone rang. At first, she'd been excited, thinking it was Daryl but when she looked at the screen, she was _very_ disappointed.

"Hello, Martin." She growled when she put it to her ear. She saw Rick glare over at her then reached over and snatched the phone for her.

"You sack of shit! How dare you cheat on my sister!" He managed ground out at him before Abby snatched the phone back.

She glared at him then put the phone back to her ear. "That was Rick in case you didn't get that."

"Kind of hard not to." He said dryly.

"What do you want?" She asked testily.

"As a part of the divorce we get to split our assets. You're supposed to come to the house and tell me what you want to take, then you and I negotiate. My lawyer will here to make sure everything goes smoothly." Martin replied.

"I don't want most of that shit, you bought almost all of it." She growled again.

"Well, you should still come. You still have some stuff here." Martin insisted.

"Fine I'll book a flight for tomorrow morning. I'll text you the time." She said.

"That works, I'll see you tomorrow than. Bye." Martin hung up before she could even reply but she didn't really care. She was done talking to him too.

"I'm comin' with you." Rick said through gritted teeth.

"No! You'll only turn it into a fight!" She said, terrified at the thought.

Rick let out a slow breath. "I promise, I'll behave. You need someone there, someone who'll be on _your_ side. I might not be a lawyer but I'm a cop, I know the law."

"You promise to behave?" She asked firmly. It would be nice to have someone there on her side and Rick knew her better than almost anyone and would hold no judgement against her.

"I promise." Rick said holding up his hand as if he was making an oath.

"Fine." She breathed.

As they continued to drive back to King County, Abby made the flight plans for them, both their departure and their return flights. This time, she managed to get a ridiculously early flight in the morning and a mid-afternoon return flight so that they'd be home in time for supper. They stopped at the farm along the way to drop off the tools before finally leaving and heading home. When they finally arrived at Rick's house, there was two vehicles parked out front, Shane's jeep and Jeremy's Buick. Abby looked over at Rick worriedly.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to face them…" She said as her anxiety started to rise in her chest, really she was fine with Jeremy but she couldn't deal with Shane.

Rick touched her hand. "If you can't, that's fine but you'll have to face them eventually."

"Not today!" She said forcefully.

"Okay, okay. Do you want me to send them away?" He asked watching her worriedly.

"N-no. I'll just go get supper or something. Maybe go back to the farm and started ripping stuff out." She said than nodded her head. "Yeah that's what I'll do, I can take my anger at Martin out on the walls."

"Alright. Just don't be out too late, okay? Text me every couple hours, so I know you're alright." Rick said.

"Sure." She agreed, then stepped out of Rick's vehicle and rushed over to her bike.

She quickly buckled on her helmet as Shane appeared on the front step and started walking towards her. Rick quickly got out his vehicle and intercepted him. "Don't." Rick said as she fired up her motorcycle and quickly peeled out of the driveway.

Once she'd made it out of the neighbourhood, she made a quick stop at the local fast food joint to buy herself supper than, like she told Rick, drove back to the farm and sat on the floor while she ate her supper. Once she was done, she slowly toured the house and tried to decide where she wanted to start. She decided to start with the upstairs. If she got her bedroom liveable, she could live in the house while she fixed up the rest of the house.

She quickly cut the few boards they'd brought home with them, and made a stable set of steps and floorboards from the front door to the steps. She then dug through the stuff that they'd just bought and grabbed the crowbar, hammer and sledgehammer. She pulled on a pair of gloves, went up the stairs and quickly went to work removing the carpet from every room and threw it outside. Just having the carpet out of the house felt like an accomplishment but the sun was still up so she decided to continue.

She grabbed the sledgehammer and went to work breaking up the plaster on the walls. She was three quarters done the master bedroom when her phone rang once more. She cursed as she put the sledgehammer down, hoping that it wasn't Martin again. Thankfully, it was Daryl.

"Hey." She answered breathlessly.

"Hey. You workin' on your house? You sound outta breath." He asked.

"Yeah, jus' breaking the plaster off my wall. Already removed all the carpet!" She said happily.

"Already an improvement, I'm sure." Daryl replied.

"Definitely. So, you got the place, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, its real small but I practically pay nothin' for it. In return, the lady wants me to fix it up a little for her. She just wants me to replace the cabinets, some of the plumbing and paint. I basically just pay for my utilities, that's it." Daryl told her.

"Doesn't' sound like a bad deal. Is it furnished?"

"Yeah but it's pretty beat up but I've lived in worse though, so that's fine."

"So how small is small?" Abby asked.

"Five hundred square feet." Daryl answered nonchalant.

"That sounds like an apartment!"

"You'd think but it's a house. It's gotta huge garage and big yard." He said. "I'm almost there, I'm comin' over. I got some beer."

"Sure, but you don't have to help with anything, you can just visit."

"I ain't gonna just stand around and talk with you while you work. Either neither of us work or we both work. Brought a wheelbarrow that was in the back of my new place. Figured you might need it."

Abby laughed as she looked at the destruction around her. "You know, I probably do. Rick and I went on a little shopping trip in Atlanta, that was not something either one of us thought of! So much for bein' country folk!"

Daryl grunted. "I'll be right there." Then hung up.

Abby ran into the bathroom to look at her reflection. She was sweaty and covered in dust but she made sure her hair wasn't too terribly messed up before going back into the room and resuming her activities. She had just finished knocking the plaster off of the walls when a knock on the door startled her.

Abby turned to see Daryl smiling at her. "Hey." He said as she put a hand to her rapidly beating heart. "I did knock before I came in, but you were makin' such a ruckus, probably didn't hear."

Abby laughed a little breathless. "No, I didn't!"

Daryl held up a case of beer. "Why don't you take a break, then we can haul this shit out of here."

Abby nodded and the two of them walked back downstairs, into the kitchen and the two of them hopped up onto the countertops and popped open a beer each.

"So, you official own this place now, huh?" Daryl asked as he took a sip from his beer.

"Yes, I do. Brought Rick over, this morning after I'd signed the papers, it really pissed him off to see the state of this place. He said that my folks had planned on replacing the roof the weekend that they had passed, so it is over a decade overdue. Rick an' I even went up there, was pretty soft in a couple area, he figures I probably should get it done professionally."

Daryl nodded in approval. "Probably a good idea, might be some structural issues if yer rafters are rotting." They sat there in comfortable silence for a while, just sipping at their beers before Daryl looked over at her again. "So, Gunnery Sergeant, huh?"

" _Master_ Gunnery Sergeant." She corrected with a smile.

"That's pretty up there, huh. You miss it?" He asked.

Abby shrugged. "Some of it, yeah. I like the unit I was with, a good bunch of guys. It was like having nine brothers." Abby laughed. "They looked out for me. When my PTSD symptoms first started showin', they tried to help me with it. Didn't really want me sent home, nor did _I_ want to go home. Probably a poor decision both by me and them but Heine sight, you know."

"You mind me askin' what happened?" Daryl asked carefully.

Abby tilted her head. "Do you mean how I got PTSD or how the brass took notice?"

"Whichever, but I get it if you don't wanna talk about it." Daryl said wincing and looking like he regretted asking.

"Probably half of King county knows about 'the incident'. Rick probably told Lori and well, she can't keep things to herself. He probably also told Shane and Jeremy, the basics anyways. As far as the PTSD starting, basically made one to many calls on people's lives. Too much classified stuff for me to go into detail but I've killed a lot of people, it gets to you after a while."

"What's the _incident_?"

"Like I said, my unit was tryin' to help me but one night, we were camping out in the desert. I had one of my nightmares and thankfully I didn't have my knife or pistol on me. It was kinda like sleep walkin'. In my head I was somewhere else, tryin' to find my enemy but in actually when I attacked them, I attacked one of the men from my unit. Tried to beat the crap outta him but he kinda got what was happening, he defended himself by blocking my attacks but no one wanted to hurt me. One of the other guys managed to subdue me an' the medic gave me a sedative.

"Next thing I remember, I was wakin' up in a hospital in Germany. The guys told the base doctors all the stuff I'd been suffering through and they thought it was wise to just send me to Germany. Spent two months there before going back to the states, some of the guys called to check on me."

"So, the last time you saw yer unit, you were tryin' to beat on them?" Daryl asked.

"Well, sort of. I don't actually remember the incident, so for me it was before I fell asleep." Abby replied with a shrug.

"Sorry if my questions are upsettin' you." Daryl said sheepishly.

Abby smiled, "It's fine. At least you have the decency to ask me out right, most people jus' get the stories second hand an' gossip 'bout it."

"I ain't gonna gossip about other people's shit. It ain't their business." Daryl put his empty down, slid off of the counter and then offered her his hand. "Come on, let's get workin'."

She continued to smile as she took his hand and slid off the counter also and put the beer can on the counter. He slowly let go of her hand, then turned and walked to the stairs. She followed him, watching the swagger in his hips as he climbed the stairs and together they went into room.

Together they began to gather up all the plaster into the wheelbarrow and got it outside to a huge metal bin that was brought to the property sometime after Rick and Abby had left. They then pulled off the slats off the wall, then moved on to the next bedroom. By the time darkness had rolled around, they were sitting on the floor of the living room and Daryl was helping her plan out what she wanted to do with the upstairs.

"You're full of ideas!" She exclaimed happily. "You're even more helpful than Rick. He basically wants to keep it all the same, just updated."

Suddenly her phone rang. When she looked at it, she saw that it was her brother. "Speak of the devil." She mumbled, then put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, just checkin' on you. How's it going?" Rick asked.

"Fine. Tore the plaster and slats out of two rooms. Now I'm just sitting on the floor in the living room trying to plan a little." Abby replied as Daryl handed her another beer. "You might want to come and get me though, I've had like six beers."

Rick sighed. "Drinking and construction doesn't generally go together, I'll be right there."

She hung up and Daryl smirked at her. "Better get goin' huh?" He asked.

Abby shrugged. "You can wait if you want." Suddenly a thought popped into her head. "Oh! I forgot to tell you, I'm goin' to Seattle tomorrow for the day."

Daryl frowned. "Why?"

"Part of the divorce, splitting of assets. Gotta go there, say what I want and try to come to an agreement." She said shaking her head in annoyance. "Shouldn't be much of a problem, most of that shit was his. I hardly lived in that house."

"Sounds like he's gonna get most of it." Daryl said shaking his head.

"Not necessarily. He'll just have to shovel out more money." Abby said as she opened up the beer he'd given her.

"So long as you get yer share." Daryl grumbled as he got to his feet.

Abby followed suit and followed him as he walked to the door. He opened the door, then stopped and looked back at her. "Goodnight. Talk to you later."

He bent forward and gave her a quick peck on her dusty cheek, he blushed then turned and left. Abby smiled as she held her hand to her cheek and watched as his tail lights faded off into the distance. She closed the door and returned to the paper pad on the ground and resumed sketching out the floor plan. About ten minutes later, the front door opened and in stepped both Lori and Rick.

Abby looked up from her note pad. "Hey."

"Wow." Lori said looking around. "I can't believe it's the same house, what did those people do to this place?"

"You should see what I did to the upstairs!" Abby said smirking as she stood up and dusted off her pants.

Without a word, the two went up the stairs as Abby took another sip from her beer and waited for them to come down. When they did come down, Rick look surprised.

"You got a lot done." Rick exclaimed. "Looks so much better without those hideous rugs in there. Too bad the hardwood isn't saveable."

Abby sighed. "Yeah."

"Come on, let's go home. We got an early morning." Rick said indicating for her to come to him.

She walked over to him and he wrapped his arm around her and the two of them walked outside together.

111

The next morning Rick and Abby got up bright and early. Abby had been so hungover, that Rick had to come into her room a couple times to shake her awake and even poured a cup of water on her head when she still didn't get up. Abby was a huge suck when hungover and it'd probably been close to year since she'd drank enough to truly call herself drunk. When she'd met Daryl, she'd only been a little tipsy having drank just enough to question her ability to drive but not enough to make her sick in the morning.

When Rick had finally dragged her out of bed, she managed to quickly get dressed and the two of them grabbed a quick breakfast from the fast food joint. Once at the airport, they had to rush to make their flight, which made Rick very cranky with her.

"Couldn't you have waited to get wasted until _after_ we got back?" He grumbled as they took their seats.

"Oh, I probably still will!" She replied, smirking at him.

Once in the air, he mellowed out again as the two of them settled in for a nap. Once again, when they landed, Rick had to shake her awake but this time she woke up on his first attempt. The weather seemed to project her mood, as they disembarked the plane, as it was cloudy and raining. They caught a cab, when they left the airport, and the two siblings rode to their destination. As the cab rolled to a stopped, Abby stared at the house and sighed, she was really dreading what was coming next. Rick rubbed her back and looked at her sympathetically.

"It'll be fine, we'll be in and out and back home before you know it." He encouraged her.

Abby sighed. "I hope so."

Rick paid the driver and the two of them climbed out of the cab and then up the steps that led to the house. Abby paused at the door, hand poised above the door knob, about to step in.

"Should I knock?" She asked him.

"It's still your house for another couple of weeks." Rick answered, shrugging.

Abby nodded and decided to just walk in. When they entered, they found a woman, Martin and the man she'd caught him cheating on her with, sitting together in the living room. When Martin saw her, he looked a little bashful but when he saw Rick, an expression of sheer terror crossed his face

"W-what's he doing here?" Martin squeaked.

Abby had to admit, she was taking great pleasure in his reaction to her brother and so was he. "Rick's here to support me." Abby replied.

"I support her, unlike you." Rick growled out.

"Rick!" Abby warned. "You promised!"

Rick threw his hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

The woman stood up and offered her hand to Abby. "Sandra Bennett, Mister King's attorney."

Abby took her hand and shook it. "I'm sure you know who I am, this here is my brother, Rick Grimes. He's the town Sheriff back home, thought he'd come in handy."

"Sheriff Grimes, pleased to meet you. Now let's get down to business, shall we?" Bennett said Indicating a love seat.

"Who's he?" Rick asked indicating the other man.

"Probably Martin's boyfriend, since they were in bed together when I came here last?" Abby answered dryly as she sat down, not wanting to call the place 'home'.

"You haven't said anything to my folks, have you?" Martin asked worriedly.

"Haven't seen 'em, haven't talked to 'em. They are your problem!" Abby answered while putting a hand on her brother's shoulder as he glared at the interloper.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Bennett asked. "Are there any big-ticket items that you'd like Mrs. King?"

"Either Abby or Ms. Grimes, please." Abby said annoyed, then thought for a moment. "Not really, just so long as I get my portion of the money for the house, I'm happy. I have my motorcycle, that's the biggest ticket item that I want…and the treadmill."

"I'm okay with that, I don't have no desire to drive that death machine and I won't use the treadmill." Martin agreed.

"So, you don't want any of the couches, TV's, kitchen appliances, beds any of those type of things?" Bennett asked.

Rick whispered something to her and Abby's eyes went big. "Oh, I forgot about that! My grandmother's dresser, my great grandfather built it for her when she got married."

Martin winced. "A-alright, it was your grandmother's. It's so beautiful, I hate to lose it but you aren't asking for much so I can't say no."

"Actually, Mister King, if you don't want to let it go; we can fight for it." Bennett said instantly gaining both Grimes' animosity.

"No, it's a family heirloom. Back in Georgia, family heritage is very important, I can't take it away from her. It should stay in the Grimes family." Martin said confidently.

"Thank you." Abby said quietly.

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Ab's. I didn't want to hurt you to begin with. We probably shouldn't have ever gotten married, but we could have stayed good friends. I handled things poorly, I know this is my fault." Martin sighed. "I should have ended this years ago, but I thought if we got divorced then I'd have to admit to everyone that I was gay and that scared me. I'm sorry, this has been unfair to you."

"You _did_ handle this poorly! If you had just told me, I wouldn't have gotten mad! We _could_ have stayed friends!" Abby said sadly. "I would have been like 'okay, I guess we should get a divorce'. I wouldn't have held it against you! But you _cheated_ on me, you _lied_ to me! That's what makes me angry!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, I really am." Martin said sincerely. "I know you like to cook, take whatever you want from the kitchen. I know you're not really gonna want much more beside your military paraphernalia. I already packed up the rest of your clothes and your books, I sent them yesterday. You can check the bookcase and make sure I got them all."

"Thank you." Abby said softly.

"Mister King, I don't think…" Bennett started but Martin interrupted.

"Its fine, go ahead Abby. I left some boxes in there." Martin said with an equal amount of softness.

Abby nodded, then her and Rick got up and walked over into the kitchen. She went straight for the big soup pot that had once been her Grandmother's also, then rummaged through the cupboards as Martin's attorney and boyfriend came into the kitchen and watched her like a hawk.

"You can't take that pot!" Allan complained.

"It our grandmother's and Martin just said she could take whatever she wants." Rick growled.

Martin sighed as he came into the room. "He's right on both counts, just go back to the living room, Allan." Martin instructed Allan.

Allan glared at them once more before turning and walking out. Abby continued to rummage and after about ten minutes, she'd filled a box and was done. "I'm gonna go in the garage. There were some spare parts for my bike in there and some tools I'd like."

Martin chuckled. "Because I'm totally going to use them." He said sarcastically.

Abby smirked slightly as she walked to the back door and walked out, taking a box with her. She went to the garage and packed up her parts and most of the tools, leaving the more basic ones like screw drivers, behind. After a couple of minutes, Martin appeared in the doorway.

"Maybe we should talk for a moment, without any spectators." Martin said from where he stood in the doorway.

Abby sighed tiredly. "What is there to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize, again." Martin said as he stepped further inside. "I did care for you, you know, just not how you wanted me to. I…I should've at least tried to treat you better. Be honest with me, did you ever cheat? I was horrible to you, you had to have gotten lonely."

"I was lonely, that was half of the reason I joined the military, for some fulfilment." Abby sighed, then winced. "I was faithful, for a long time. But when Rick got shot and you left? I needed someone to comfort me and Lori wasn't what I was looking for."

"Let me guess, Jeremy?" Martin said then smirked when she looked at him in shock. "There was rumors when we were in high school that you two were a thing. You always were extra nice to him and he was always extra nice to you, so I always wondered if the rumor mill had actually been right. He'll be good for you, you should see him."

Abby shook her head. "He still likes me but Rick's friendship is more important than the chance of us getting together. Besides, I met a guy the night I found you out. We've kinda been seeing each other as friends but it's becoming more then that."

"I'm happy for you, I just want you to be happy. I want someone to give you the love and kids and all the other things I couldn't give you."

Abby sighed. "I feel like such an ass. I freaked out on you when I found out 'bout you cheating but you find out and you're all cool about it!"

Martin chuckled. "Finding another man naked in bed with your husband is a little more shocking than hearing the words."

Abby looked down as she fiddled with the corner of the box she'd put her parts into. "Were there others? Besides Allan?"

Martin winced. "Yes, a couple but they broke it off pretty quickly when I didn't want to break it off with you."

"You can't blame them." Abby said. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt but he was right, the seeing was worse than just hearing about it.

"So, do you think we could be friends?" Martin asked hopefully.

Abby sighed then shook her head. "Not right now. All of this, it's too fresh but maybe one day."

"Alright, I get that. Just let me know when you're ready." Martin said then took a cautious step forward, placed his hands on her shoulders when she didn't step back and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you inside."

Martin left then without another word as Abby stared sadly at her box. She stood there for several minutes before taking a deep breath, then continued looking through the garage. When she came back inside, she plunked the box heavily on to the counter. The attorney came over and poked around in it then insisted that Martin look inside to make sure she didn't take anything she shouldn't have. When Martin reluctantly came over looked inside and said it was fine, Rick taped the two boxes shut as she went wandering through the house, followed closely by the attorney. She took almost nothing but like Martin had predicted, she wanted her mementos from her tours overseas.

"Well I think that's all." Abby said finally.

"Are you sure?" Martin asked.

"Yeah. I barely lived here, most of this stuff has value to you, not me." Abby replied.

"Alright, call a courier for your stuff. I'll clean out the dresser and Rick can help me carry it downstairs." Martin said.

"Okay." Abby replied then walked to the kitchen, pulled out a phone book and called the courier while Rick followed Martin upstairs.

Once that was done, she carried the boxes to the front door and watched as Rick and Martin carefully came down the stairs with the dresser between them. Bennett indicated for Abby to follow her into the living room, then indicated a set of papers sitting on the coffee table. Abby sat down, and looked over the papers.

"What are these for? I already signed the divorce papers." Abby asked as she read the documents.

"They are documents that basically say that you agree to release the house and remaining items to Mister King." Bennett explained.

"Yeah, well, I think I'll be gettin' my lawyer to look at this first." Abby said as she stacked the papers together.

* * *

Yay, Abby's finally getting divorced! Now her and Daryl can be together! Thanks for reading, 'til next time!

-Shockra


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone! How was your week? Mine was largely very boring but I plan on potting flowers this weekend, so that'll be great! Anyways, just as a warning to my young readers, the last third of this chapter maybe inappropriate for young readers. At the same time it'll make some of you very happy, I'm sure. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

The next morning, Abby rolled out of bed and stumbled down the stairs. At first Abby was a little disoriented by Carl sitting at kitchen table; he was usually off to school by the time she got up in the morning, then realized that it was Saturday.

"Morning, kiddo." Abby said as she kissed him on top of the head.

"Morning Aunty!" He said, smiling up at her happily. "Mom made breakfast!"

"Did she?" Abby replied trying to sound enthusiastic.

Lori Suddenly appeared from down the hall. "Morning! Here, I'll grab you a plate."

"Where's Rick?" Abby asked as she sat down.

"He got called in." Lori replied sighing.

"He's not supposed to be working yet." Abby said frowning.

"He's not 'working' per se, just dealing with a few staff issues that couldn't wait until he got back." Lori explained. "He should be back in an hour or so."

"Do you have plans today?" Abby asked them as she tried to not choke on her burnt pancakes.

"Helping you." Lori said smiling. "Rick wants to help finish demolishing the inside, the fun part!"

Abby laughed as Carl asked. "Can I help?" Looking over at Abby hopefully.

"Ask your mom."

Lori smiled, "That should be fine. Just do what your dad and aunt tell you."

"Okay." He replied enthusiastically

When Rick finally did return home, they all packed up into their vehicle and drove down to the farm. Carl gaped in awe as they drove down the driveway as Abby ruffled his hair and chuckled.

"You should have seen it when your grandpa owned it." Abby said as she looked out the window beside him.

"Did you have livestock growing up, aunty?" Carl asked as Rick rolled to a stop in front of the house.

"Some. We had about a dozen of cows, as well as chickens and a small herd of horses." She answered him.

"Your aunt Abigail used to compete in the junior rodeo when she was your age." Rick put in as he twisted in his seat to look back at them.

"Really?" He asked amazed.

Abby laughed as she opened his door, "Yeah, barrel racing but the last time I competed I was... fifteen, I believe."

"Did you do stuff like that, dad?" Carl asked and both Abby and Rick laughed as everyone got out.

"No, your daddy was too busy being mister cool with all his friends and playin' sports like football." She said grinning at Rick as they walked up the steps to the door.

"I just never got the interest that you did." Rick said as Abby unlocked the door.

"Will you get horses again, aunty?" Carl asked hopefully

"Maybe one or two...and a dog." Abby said grinning as the door's lock, clicked.

They all walked inside, then Abby led them to the living room and handed them various crowbars, sledgehammer and hammers. They then went up the stairs and started smashing the plaster on the walls of the third bedroom. By midday, the rooms walls were completely devoid of any plaster and slats, so Rick and Abby started hauling away the garbage that they had moved to the center of the room, while Lori and Carl started on the fourth room.

As Abby was wheeling out a load of plaster, her phone started ringing in her pocket. She put the wheelbarrows handles down, pulled the phone out of her pocket and smiled.

"Hey." She answered as she put the phone between her shoulder and ear, then picked up the wheelbarrows handles and continued to the container.

"It's me, Daryl." Daryl said.

"I know, I've got call display." Abby said chuckling.

"Oh…right. Do you want help today?" Daryl asked. "I assume yer workin' on your house."

"I am. I thought you were moving in today?" Abby asked in return.

Daryl scoffed. "My _moving in_ , involves one bag of clothes and my crossbow. That's it."

Abby laughed. "Right, well, you can come over but are you ready to deal with my brother, sister in law and nephew? Cause they are all here, helping me today." She said then hoisted the barrows handles up and dumped the contents inside the container.

Daryl paused for a long moment. "Do you _need_ help? I mean your brothers still hurt, right? Probably can't do a lot of heavy lifting."

"He is but that isn't stopping him from trying anyways. We Grimes' are a little stubborn that way. It's up to you. I mean I'd really like to have your company but I'm not sure you'll like being around my family. I'm in pretty good shape still, so I can handle the heavy lifting anyways."

Daryl paused again, then finally said. "I'm coming over. I'll be there in a bit." Then hung up.

Abby shrugged her shoulders, she didn't mind him getting to know her family, she was just a little worried that he might be scared off by them. He wasn't used to normal people, that much she could tell but he also seemed to have thick skin. It all depended on how much he actually liked her, and that thought scared her a little. She had been trying so hard to not like him more than a friend but she found him naturally appealing and was failing miserably.

On her third trip out with the wheelbarrow, Daryl pulled up and trotted over to her and grabbed the wheelbarrow's handles from her. She grumbled that she could handle it but was still glad that he'd come along when he did, she was getting a little tired and still felt a little hungover.

He followed her with the wheelbarrow inside, then he followed her up the stairs where everyone still worked. Rick smiled at her momentarily, then saw Daryl come up behind her and looked at him surprised.

"Lori, Carl, this is my friend Daryl. He offered to help me today and I figured since Rick shouldn't be doin' anything too intensive, a little extra muscle might come in handy." Abby said as he stepped in to the room.

Lori tried to dust off her hands then gave up and offered it to him anyways. "Hi, I'm Lori Grimes, Rick's wife and that's our son Carl. Its nice to meet you."

Daryl shook her hand and nodded but didn't say anything. "Rick." Abby said to break the silence. "Why don't you help Lori and Carl with smashing up the plaster while Daryl and I haul this off? You really shouldn't be pushing yourself too much."

"She's right, Rick." Lori agreed.

"Fine, its more fun smashing plaster anyways." He replied grinning.

So, Daryl and Abby grabbed a shovel each and started scooping up the plaster and carried it to the wheelbarrow at the bottom of the steps. After another hour, Carl complained about being hungry, so Lori went back into town to grab a pizza. Surprisingly, Rick was very well behaved and actually seemed to be getting along reasonably well with Daryl. She had even caught them talking a few times, about hunting, cars and various other 'guy stuff'. Martin would never talk to Rick and even though Rick had tried to get along with Martin, it had never ended well.

Martin was always very upset with her that she never stuck up for him, which she did, or annoyed with how she never seemed to get mad with Rick, which she also did. Martin was an only child, so he had a hard time understanding Rick and Abby's dynamic. He'd also never had lost a close family member, so he didn't understand her fear of losing her brother. There had been a couple of situations where Martin had wanted her cut her ties from Rick completely but she refused. Rick never got mad at her for Martin's behavior, although she was pretty sure he was disappointed in her for marrying the man in the first place.

With Daryl, Rick had to sense that they were more than 'just friends' but he seemed willing to give the man a chance. Maybe, like Abby, he sensed that there was more than to Daryl than met the eye. Probably slightly impressed that Daryl had managed to deal with Shane coolly, despite Shane's efforts to set him off.

When Lori arrived with the pizza and beverages, they all stopped for a pizza and beer or in Carl's case; pizza and a soda. Daryl and Rick started talking over the plans for the house, like they were the foreman's and she had no say; although she had to admit that Daryl was full of good ideas. He had even suggested that she turn one of the five upstairs bedrooms into a walk-in closet and en suite; which, if she should ever decide to sell it, would add great value to the house.

By the end of the day, they managed to remove every inch of plaster in the upstairs and even removed some of the damaged hardwood. She had found, in one of the rooms, that the hardwood was actually in good condition. So, she decided to gently remove it and reuse it downstairs in areas that might need repairs.

Rick, Lori and Carl all went home to have supper but Abby decided to spend some more time with Daryl. She climbed up into his truck and the two of them drove to the next nearest town, to the small town diner, and had supper together. People looked at them a little funny, at first when they had entered and then as they walked passed the booth they'd sat down in.

"What the hells their problem?" Daryl grumbled as a third person walked passed, staring at them.

Abby chuckled. "Probably because we're covered head to toe in plaster dust. This a small town but a small town of silver spoons and well-bred people, most of 'em never worked a hard day's labor in their life. I'm gonna wash up a bit before the food arrives, rather not eat the plaster too."

Daryl smirked slightly as he nodded his head. She scooted out of the booth and walked to the back of the diner, where the bathroom was located. When she looked in the mirror, she laughed out loud as she looked at her reflection. She couldn't believe that Daryl hadn't made any commentary about her appearance. Her chocolate brown had was practically grey and her suntanned skin looked as white as a Geisha's face.

She washed off her hands, arms and face, then went into the stall, pulled off her shirt and shook it out as best as she could, then undid her hair and shook the dust out, then let it continue to hang loose. When she was satisfied that she looked like a human being again, she left the bathroom and sat down in their booth once more.

"I can't believe you didn't say how dusty I was!" Abby said laughing as she swatted at his arm playfully.

Daryl smirked as he shrugged. "Hadn't really noticed, until now."

"What? You think I always look like a ghost?" She asked as she continued laughing.

Daryl just shrugged again, then changed the subject. "Your brother wasn't as bad as you made him out to be." He commented.

"Yeah, how about that! I'm surprised at how well he behaved but I suppose the last time I was single, I was eighteen." She said as she put her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand.

"He seemed alright with me…as your friend anyways. Lori, on the other hand, don't care for me much." Daryl said.

Abby rolled her eyes. "Lori wanted me to try and work things out with Martin, you know 'save my marriage'." Abby said sarcastically then scoffed. "So, I don't have much respect for her opinion."

Daryl rolled his eyes, "He don't even like women."

"Yeah, well, Lori comes from the frame of mind that you got to turn a blind eye to your spouse's quirks and stay married no matter what."

Daryl shook his head. "That's stupid."

"Agreed."

"So, you get yer stuff him?" He asked finally after a brief silence.

"Yeah, technically. I got it couriered so it should be here any day now. My clothes at least should be here on Monday." She said as their food arrived. "Not getting anything too big, basically just a dresser and a treadmill, then three boxes of random stuff."

Daryl quirked an eyebrow. "That's it? I'd have thought that with so many years of marriage you'd have more furniture and shit."

"I was barely around, I spent most of our ten years on the other side of the planet." Abby shrugged. "I didn't have a lot invested there and I never did like the furniture he chose."

They continued chatting while they ate, sharing stories of their upbringing. Most of what Daryl shared lacked detail, especially when it came to his family. He told her how his mother had died in a fire that she'd accidently started with a cigarette while passed out in bed. In return, Abby told him how her parents had died. She had been in her rebellious stage still and had disappeared for three days with a boy she'd just met. Her parents had been driving around, looking for her when they had gotten in an accident in Atlanta, close to where she'd been staying with the boy.

It was Rick who'd finally gotten in contact with her, the day after their parent's death and brought her home. It was pretty much after their death that Abby had started to smarten up. She got her grades up and managed to graduated near the top of her class. It was in that time that her and Martin had become friends, he'd been apart of a study group she was in and had helped her considerably when she had been playing catch up.

Afterwards, Daryl had driven her home, continuing the conversation as they drove. It was Abby, though, who did most of the talking. She'd generally come up with the topic of conversation then he'd give his opinions on the topic. At one point, she'd asked him if she was talking too much. He just smiled and told her that he enjoyed listening to her talking, which Abby figured was him being polite.

When he finally rolled to a stop, Abby stared at him momentarily then smiled. "What?" He asked shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

Abby chuckled. "Nothing, I just thinking how nice its been to just talk with someone and not really have 'em judge you. You're probably the least judgemental person I've ever met."

"That'd be hypocritical of me. I've got plenty of weird and messed up things about me, that the most people would have a hard time accepting." Daryl said shrugging.

"Like what?" Abby asked tilting her head.

"I'm basically a drifter, don't have a place that I'd ever call home. My only family is a drugged out older brother and people tend to assume the same about me." Daryl replied grumpily. "I'm sure there's other shit that I'd never even consider weird but everybody else would."

"I don't find that off putting. I mean its not like yer a murderer or drug dealer! I find you well within the acceptable range of weird and messed up." She replied smiling.

Daryl grunted, then stared at her in shock as she bent towards him, grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him towards her and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled back, she stroked the side of his face as she looked from his beautiful blue eyes to his lips, then sat back and smiled at him coyly.

"Good night." She whispered, then climbed out of his truck.

111

Two weeks later, Abby moved into her home. While it was far from done, she had a bedroom to sleep in and a functioning bathroom. For meal times, she used either a propane camping stove or her brand-new barbeque to cook herself meals. That same week, Rick finally returned to work, much to his delight. He was more than ready to return. To keep himself occupied, he had started doing house work on his own house, that his doctors really wouldn't like him doing, on top of the work he'd done for Abby.

Daryl had started his job and actually really enjoyed it. While he knew more about motorcycle's, he was fairly adept at working on cars and half ton's. What he didn't know, they taught him and were pleased with how quickly he picked things up. His house, while extremely small, was more than sufficient for him; especially since he didn't spend a lot of time there. His landlord was a tiny old woman who lived by herself, her children having moved to the other side of the country. She had decided to adopt Daryl as one of her kids and stopped by regularly to bring him casseroles and cookies.

Most week days, Daryl didn't come down to Abby's house, doing the work he'd promise his landlady when he wasn't working but she'd sometimes come to visit him for lunch or go out for supper with him or just drinks. Lori had really started getting on Abby's nerves recently, constantly complaining about her spending time with Daryl. While Abby had yet to call him her boyfriend, they were basically seeing each other. The day that her divorce had been finalized, instead of feeling sad and depressed, like she thought she'd feel, she felt liberated and happy.

Today was a Saturday and while Rick normally came over to give her a hand, him and his family had gone on a family camping trip as a way to celebrate his return to work. Rick had invited her to come along, even told her to invite Daryl, but Abby sensed that Lori was desperate to have some family time that didn't involve Abby, especially if it meant that she'd be bringing her new unofficial boyfriend. Besides, she'd rather spend her weekend with Daryl than more time with her family.

She decided to take advantage of Daryl having a truck, so they drove into the city together to do a little shopping for her house. She thought that he might get a little annoyed with her for spending most of his Saturday shopping, but as they wandered through the furniture store, looking for bedroom furniture for her, he seemed rather content just following after her and giving his own opinions. She was happy to find out that she would be able to get both the bedframe and mattress that she liked, that day. After spending the previous nights on an air mattress, she was more than ready for a real bed again. The catch, they had to come back in four hours so they could get it from the warehouse on the other side of the city so they could pick it up.

At first, they went to the hardware store to pick up more flooring to finish the upstairs, tile for the remaining bathrooms and various other items that she was in need of. When that only killed an hour of their time, they decided to have a late lunch. They walked into a local restaurant and sat down. They chatted while they ate, having become fairly comfortable with each other. They talked about some things that might be considered taboo, considering they'd just started dating but Daryl seemed undaunted by such conversation. As they had their cleaned-out plates taken away, she looked at Daryl guiltily.

"What?" Daryl asked cautiously.

"We still have an hour and a half before we can pick up my furniture, so I was thinking…" She smiled at him coyly. "Maybe doing a bit of clothing shopping? Most of my clothing is super old. I don't want a lot. Just maybe some jeans and a few shirts."

Daryl sighed and rolled his eyes. "What's wrong with what you got?"

Abby laughed. "I know you don't care what I wear and I don't really need to be fashionable but its nice to have new things every once in a while. They last time I actually bought myself new clothes was like four years ago!"

Daryl sighed again. "Fine. Probably should pick up a pair of jeans also. This my only pair that ain't oil stained."

"Thank you." Abby said then leaned over the table and pecked him on the lips.

As they left the restaurant, Abby gave Daryl the instructions to where she was wanting to do her shopping. He grumbled to himself as he followed her into the store and as he followed her throughout the store, he behaved how she expected him to behave while they had been furniture shopping. He reminded her of a scolded child being forced to do something they really didn't want to do. To keep him from being too miserable, she'd turn around frequently to wrap her arms around his waist and give him frequent kisses. After a while, stopped grumbling and even started giving opinions, generally unhelpful opinions, about the various things that she held up.

"I'm just gonna let you pick out a pair of jeans." Daryl said when she declared she was done. "You care more 'bout what they look like than I do."

"That's awfully trusting of you." She said grinning.

"They're men's jeans, how dangerous can it be?" Daryl asked.

Abby laughed. "You would be surprised! There's skinny jeans, colorful jeans, stretchy jeans, the list goes on."

"Well I'm a redneck, not a hipster." Daryl said crossing his arms over his chest. "Figured that was one of the things you liked 'bout me."

Abby laughed again as she grabbed his hand and led him over to the men's section, looked briefly at the selection, then pulled out a pair and handed them to Daryl. "Try these on." She said.

Daryl looked at the tag, then shook his head. "Nah, they're my size. I'm sure they'll be fine." He said shaking his head.

He grabbed on to her hand and pulled her a long behind him, until they reached the till. Once they'd both purchased their items, Daryl practically dragged her out of the store and back to his truck. Abby could tell that Daryl was more than a little relieved to be going to pick up her new bedroom furniture, which made Abby feel more than a little guilty.

"I'm sorry that I ruined your Saturday!" She said grimacing.

Daryl stopped at the red light, then reached over to grab her hand. "You didn't. I'm not a fan of clothing shopping but I was with you, so it wasn't a waste." She smiled at him broadly, which made him blush deeply. "Besides I didn't mind going to the hardware store or shopping for furniture... never done gone furniture shopping before."

"I haven't exactly done a lot of that sort of thing, either. When I first got married, I was extremely young and we didn't have a lot of money, so we survived with second hand stuff. Some of it was pretty awful. Then, when Martin started making good money, I was on the other side of the world, so he did all the shopping, bought stuff _he_ liked." Abby frowned and looked at Daryl more closely. "Does it bother you when I talk about him? I can stop."

Daryl tightened his grip on her hand, as the light turned green and he accelerated. "Nope. He's a part of your past. It's kinda difficult for you to talk about yer past without mentioning him. Don't worry about it."

Abby studied him a little longer but decided he was being truthful, so she smiled again. "Maybe we can do something we'd both enjoy, like go to the Harley Davidson dealership and dream about motorcycle's we can't afford!"

Daryl grinned. "Now _that's_ a good suggestion."

They made their way to the furniture store, loaded up Abby's new stuff, then after Daryl had secured it all down with a tarp and rope, they drove to the nearest dealership. When they arrived, Daryl parked the truck and the two of them wandered down the aisle of brand new motorcycles that gleamed brightly in the late afternoon sun, holding hands as they walked. Daryl stopped at one bike in particular and stared at it longingly. He looked over at her and pointed.

"That's what I had before Merle totalled my bike...a much older version of course. It was the same color an' the lights were similar." He said as he ogled it.

"Why don't you find another beat up Harley or any motorcycle for that matter and fix it up? You said that was what you did with your last one." Abby suggested.

"Yeah but it took years for me to get it just into respectable shape, let alone lookin' nice." Daryl grumbled unhappily.

"Then get a slightly beat up one!" She replied smiling.

"Hi, excuse me but I couldn't help over hearing you just now." A sales man said walking up to them. "I have a motorcycle that I own, that I've been wanting to sell. It's a 2005 sportster, my nephew used to own it. He owned it for three years and didn't do so much as a single oil changed, bagged the shit out of it." Abby and Daryl both winced. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's mechanically in rough shape but the body is still in excellent shape."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow. "Do they want you selling yer personal shit?" He asked indicating the sales building.

The salesman grinned at him. "Probably not." The salesman pulled out his phone, tapped on it a couple of times then showed it to Daryl. "I have a couple of pictures of it."

Abby looked over his shoulder as Daryl took the phone and swiped through the pictures for him, zooming in on a couple pictures, knowing perfectly well that he didn't really know what he was doing. When they reached the end, Daryl handed the phone back. "How much you askin' for it?"

"Considering it currently doesn't drive, three hundred dollars." The salesman said.

Daryl rubbed his chin then looked at Abby, sighed and looked back at the salesman. "I am interested but I'd wanna see it."

"Yes of course!" The salesman reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "That there is my cell phone number, I have this Wednesday off and I'm usually home around six most other days."

Daryl took it and handed it to Abby who put it into her wallet. "Thanks." He said.

The salesman grinned. "In the meantime, you wanna go for a test drive?" He said indicating the motorcycle Daryl had been appreciating.

"If you don't mind the fact that I'm not buying, then hell ya." Daryl responded enthusiastically then looked at Abby guiltily.

"It's okay, I dragged you shopping, I can wait in the truck while you go have fun." She said smiling.

He grinned at her widely, then kissed her on the cheek as the salesman laughed. He took Daryl's drivers to photocopy it, while he grabbed the keys. When the salesman gave Daryl the keys, he had a huge smile on his face as he climbed onto the bike and started it up, then Abby watched as he rumbled out of the lot, waving at him as he went. It was almost an hour later, by the time he came rolling back onto the lot, hair swept back but still with that big smile plastered on his face.

He handed the keys back to the salesman, exchanged a few words with him than trotted over to his truck where Abby sat waiting. She smiled at him as he climbed up into his truck, then he reached over and pulled her face too him and kissed her deeply.

"Thank you." He said as he tried to catch his breath.

Abby stroked his face and looked into his eyes which were bright with delight. "You're welcome." She replied, then booped him on the nose with her index finger which made sit back and roll his eyes, while still smiling. He started his truck up and they headed for home.

111

By the time they finally made it back to her house, the sun had set, making them stumble through the dark, and up the front steps to her house. Abby turned on the front porch light and the lights inside the house, then helped Daryl unload her furniture into her house. When they brought the final piece inside and up into her bedroom, she brought him her drill and he immediately put the bed together while she worked on the first of the two nightstands.

When she was done her first nightstand, she helped him put the mattress and box spring onto the new bedframe. After they had put finished setting them on the frame, they just stood there staring at the new mattress, then Abby turned to Daryl, pulled his face to hers and kissed him passionately, pressing herself against him. Daryl was a little shocked at first, and momentarily taken aback when she started pulling the belt from his pants but it didn't last too long before he helped her unbutton his pants and shoved them to the ground.

He pulled off her shirt, then resumed kissing her as he worked on her pants, while she worked on the buttons of his shirt. Once both articles of clothing were on the ground, she pushed him towards the bed and together they flopped on to it, Daryl on his back with Abby on top. She momentarily sat up to remove her bra, then went back to kissing him while Daryl's hands slid from her back down to her ass, sliding her panties down.

Daryl flipped them over, then shimmied them further up on the mattress, removing her underwear and then kissed and licked his way down her neck to her breasts, stopping to suck and grope them before moing on, down her stomach to her pelvis. She moaned his name as his tongue flicked her clit, he then brought his face back to hers, kissing her fervently as his hands slipped between her legs and teased her entrance with his fingers.

She tried to push his underwear off with her foot but growled in frustration when then they didn't slide down. He grinned at her momentarily. "Say please, baby." He breathed.

"Please." She moaned.

Daryl sat up momentarily and pulled off his underwear, causing Abby to bite her lip and smile as she stared at his massive erection. He smiled at her cockily, throwing his gitch at her causing her to laugh as bent he over again and went straight to her breasts.

After much foreplay, Daryl pressed himself against her entrance then looked up at her. "Are you sure you wanna go all the way?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"Stop stalling! Just get it in there!" She moaned in irritation.

Daryl grinned, then thrust into her, causing to her to gasp in delight. She clawed at his back trying to pull him closer as he continued to thrust into, grunting with the effort. Her hips bucked up to meet his in near perfect rhythm and it wasn't long before they were both sweating and panting. She let out a loud moan, gratified as they climaxed together. Daryl collapsed on top of her, pressing his nose against her cheek before rolling off of her. Daryl suddenly cursed as he laid on his back, breathing rapidly.

Abby rolled on to her side and looked at him. "What?"

"We didn't use a rubber." He grumbled as he rubbed his face.

"Oh." Abby said, completely shocked that it hadn't crossed her mind, not once. "I guess it's a good thing this isn't a random hook up." Abby sat up and looked back at him. "I'm sure its fine. Not that you really need to hear this but I'm pretty sure I'm at the point in my cycle where I'm the least fertile. I'm gonna get us some bedding."

She got out of bed and walked over to her new walk-in closet to grab fresh sheets, then, when she went back into the room, she pulled her duvet off of her air mattress and the pillow. As she moved around, Daryl rolled on to his side and watched her intently. When she picked up her pillow, she smirked, then hurled it at him along with a pillow case.

"Make yourself useful." She said as he caught the pillow.

He sat up and pulled on the pillowcase as she retrieved a second pillow and threw it at him also. He helped her pull on the sheets and then helped her with the duvet, they then crawled under the covers together. Abby snuggled up to his side and kissed him on the jaw before resting her head beside his and tracing the contours of his chest with her finger, while he slowly rubbed her back.

"Are you angry?" She asked pensively. "About me forgetting about usin' protection?"

Daryl let out a quiet grunt. "No. I was just as irresponsible as you and... it's _you_. I know we've only been datin' for a short while but..." Daryl sat up on his one elbow and looked down at her as she rolled back a little so she could look up at him. "I...I love you."

She was shocked at first, that he would say that to her so soon and he most certainly seemed uncomfortable with saying it but he seemed very sincere and he didn't seem the sort to throw words like love around freely. He looked like he had been rejected already, assuming that her moment of silence meant the worst, so she smiled up at him lovingly and reached up to stroke the side of his face.

"I love you too." She said with as much feeling as she could.

Daryl smiled down at her brightly then bent down to kiss her fervently. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he climbed on top of her once more, starting round two.

111

The next morning, Abby woke up feeling blissfully happy and the feeling only intensified when she realized that she was draped over Daryl's still sleeping form. She had her forehead pressed against his jaw, her arm bent over his chest with her hand touching his shoulder, and her leg entangled with his. Daryl had his one arm wrapped around her waist while the other was on her hip, hugging her like a teddy bear, snoring softly while he slept. She carefully extricated herself from his arms and legs, then grabbed her bathrobe as she left the room and headed downstairs.

She went to the kitchen, or what remained of it, to the tiny bar fridge that she was temporarily using until she had a proper kitchen and pulled out eggs, bacon and an assortment of other items so she could make omelettes. She then went to her tiny camp stove and started making breakfast. When she was done, she placed the now cooked food onto two plates, poured two glasses of orange juice, grabbed the required utensils and went back upstairs.

When she walked back into her Master suite, she saw Daryl sitting up on his elbows, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. She smiled at him brightly and walked over to the side of the bed where he now sat up.

"Mornin', sleepy head." She said happily.

"Mornin'. You must've been a waitress at one point, the way yer carrying those plates." He said as he carefully took the plate that she'd balanced on her arm, then one the glasses of juice. "This gonna be a regular thing when I stay over? You makin' breakfast?"

"Probably. Remember, I _like_ cooking. I might've made something like pancakes or something more intricate but you know, no kitchen." She said as she moved to the other side and sat down beside him.

"Well ain't I spoiled." He said grinning as he bent to the side and kissed her.

"It's the least I can do, since you spend all your free time helping me." She said then put her first fork full of food in her mouth.

"Didn't do it to get paid back but I ain't gonna turn down good cooking." He replied around a mouth full of food.

"Once we're done eating, we can go have a shower..." She started.

"Together." He added mischievously.

Abby laughed. "Yes together, then we can finish putting my stuff together."

"Yes ma'am." Daryl said smirking, then took a sip from his juice.

Abby elbowed him in the side, causing him to spill a little on his bare chest. Abby laughed but stared at the juice running down his chest, thinking about licking it up but chickened out and just shoved another fork full of food in her mouth to keep it occupied. Daryl smirked at her, like he was reading her mind but said nothing as he wiped the juice off his chest with his hand.

When they were done, Abby put their dishes on the one nightstand that had been assembled and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom, looking over her shoulder at Daryl seductively. Daryl threw back the comforter, revealing his still naked body and rushed after. He came up behind her, kissed her neck while pressing his already stiff manhood, against her backside.

She giggled as they stepped into the bathroom and he pulled off her bathrobe, throwing it out of the way as she trotted over to the shower, turning on the water and turning around as he came up to her and wrapped his arms around her. They stepped back into the shower together, kissing, grinding and touching as they stepped under the shower head.

It took near an hour to finish showering, constantly being distracted by the other as they tried to wash themselves. Abby stared at his back sadly as she rubbed a sponge over it; an area where she saw scars on his back that reminded her of the marks she'd seen on people, usually women, during her time on tour, who'd been lashed for various crimes. She wanted to ask him about them, but she didn't want to ruin the mood, especially with how sensitive he was about his past.

When they finally stepped out of the shower and got dressed, they sat down on the ground to finish putting the rest of her furniture together. They chatted happily as they put everything together, then Daryl helped her put everything where she wanted it. When they were done, Abby wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"Thank you." She said into his chest.

"You're welcome." He replied, then kissed the top of her head. "So, what now?"

"Well we could work on the house or we could do something fun." She said looking up at him.

"I'm guessing you'll want to work on yer kitchen." He started saying to which she smiled in reply. "What'd you wanna to do that is fun?"

Abby thought about it for a moment. "We could go to the Oconee National Forest, go for a walk in the woods. Maybe show me your crossbow that I've yet to see."

Daryl grinned. "We probably could do both. Work for the rest of the morning, then drive out to the woods for the afternoon."

Abby stepped back. "That sounds good to me!"

Daryl smacked her ass as he turned to leave the room and walked down the hall then trotted down the stairs. She smiled broadly, it made her very happy with how comfortable Daryl had become in her presence. When they first met, he'd barely ever voiced his thoughts or feelings, probably thinking she'd think he was stupid but he'd learned that she was very non-judgemental and never made fun of him for thinking or feeling things. Now he'd begun to share some very deep and personal things with her, like how abusive his father was and what his brother, Merle, was like. In Abby's opinion, Merle was nearly as abusive to him as their father had been but Daryl didn't seem to see it that way.

There wasn't a lot they could do really. They whole main floor had been drywalled and mudded, and the floors sanded. All that they really could do, was prime the walls or start the massive job of staining her floors. The cabinets wouldn't arrive until Tuesday and then Wednesday the granite counter would arrive. So, they opted to just prime the walls on the main floor and when they finished, Abby made them lunch and they sat on the small part of her front porch that had been rebuilt and was safe, while they ate.

After they ate lunch, Abby went back inside and packed a backpack with a light supper, snacks, water, a first aid kit and her rain jacket just in case it rained. Daryl cocked an eyebrow when she stuffed her rain jacket into the pack, looked out the window then at her again like she was crazy.

"You never know, the weather could change!" She said dismissively.

"Uh huh." Was all he replied as pulled on a black leather vest that he had pulled out from his truck.

She had never seen him wear it before and she stared at its back when he turned for the door. She walked up behind him and traced the wings with her index finger.

"I like this." She said. "It's very you."

He looked over his shoulder at her and smirked, then turned half way to grab her hand and they walked out of the front door together. Daryl suddenly let go of her hand, when they reached the bottom step and trotted up to the passenger side door of his truck, then held it open for her. She rewarded him with a kiss on the lips before stepping up inside and smiled at him as he closed the door behind her.

When he got into the driver seat, she scooted to sit directly beside him and after he turned the ignition over, she wrapped her one arm around his and grabbed his hand with her other hand. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead as he rumbled down the driveway.

"Gonna have to stop in Haral to get my crossbow if you really wanna see it." He said as they turned onto the road.

Abby thought about it for a moment. "We probably shouldn't bring it with us, if a game warden see's us running around with it, they might get suspicious. How about I stay over at your place tonight and you can show it to me then?" She asked, smiling at him mischievously. "Seeing as you have to work tomorrow and I don't."

"If you don't mind staying a shoe box for the night and waitin' all day for me to get back home to drive you home, then I don't mind." Daryl replied.

Abby shrugged. "I've stayed in worse places, trust me and maybe I can help out a little with fixin' the place up since you spend most of your time fixing mine."

"You don't have to do that."

"I know but there ain't a lot to do in Haral, so I might as well…if you don't mind me doin' it."

Daryl kissed her hand. "You're pretty good with yer hands, I trust you. Just don't paint nothing pink and I'm pretty sure I'll be okay with it."

Abby laughed. "Hmm, I might have to do that just to piss you off."

Daryl smirked as he tried to awkwardly elbow her but she had his arm trapped.

* * *

Awe, they finally hooked up! You can't say I didn't warn you, haha. Anyways have a great rest of your day or night!

-Shockra


	6. Chapter 6

Hello! How was everyone's week? Me, I had the whole week off which was awesome! And I wasn't even sick! And the weather was gorgeous to boot. Spent pretty much the whole previous weekend buying and then potting flower, working in my flower beds and that sort of jazz. So my week has been the best so far this year! If there are any readers from the maritime coast in Canada, I feel so, so sorry for you but I sympathize; 30cm of snow sucks balls! Shit like that happens here too sometimes, there isn't a month where we haven't had snow! But i've been lucky to have +30 celcius weather almost all week! For any of you from anywhere's hot, you probably thinks its no biggy but when you come from somewhere's where we can easily have 8 months of winter...it AWESOME! Especially since the last bit of snow just melt 3 weeks ago! Okay, that got long. Anyways, warning! I get a little smutty in the beginning of this chapter but it goes back to sweeter stuff later on; you've been warned!

* * *

Abby grabbed Daryl's hand as he pulled her up on to the last rock that lead to the top of a short cliff that over looked a fast running stream. Together they walked to the edge and sat down as Daryl pulled off the backpack she'd packed but he'd been carrying. She had fulling intended on carrying her pack but when they arrived, like a gentleman, Daryl insisted on carrying it.

Abby pulled out the supper she'd packed and spread it out in front of them. Their walk had been incredibly pleasant, with it being early enough in spring that it wasn't horribly hot and there was a light breeze that seemed to keep most of the flying bugs away. As they walked, Daryl pointed out things that she didn't even notice until he pointed them out, like small critters hiding in the under brush, or picking various edible plants for her to try or wildflowers. She knew Daryl was a woodsman but she hadn't realized how both skilled and knowledgeable he really was.

Abby unwrapped a sandwich then handed it to Daryl, opened a dish full of assorted fruits and vegetables, then finally grabbed her own sandwich and together they ate. They ate in silence, watching the scenery around and listening to the sounds of nature around them. When Abby looked over at Daryl, he looked to happy and content that she just wanted to stay in this moment forever but just as she thought of making a move on him, the bush behind them crackled with the sound of branches snapping. They turned in unison to look behind them as a Game Warden came into view, looking straight at them. The young man tipped his hat at them as he approached.

"Good evening folks. How are ya'll doing?" He greeted.

"Evening, Warden." Abby answered politely. "We're doing great. How's your day been?"

The Warden smiled at her slightly. "Thankfully, largely uneventful. You folks are mighty deep in the woods, well off the normal walking trails."

Daryl grunted. "Those stupid trails are usually packed with people and you miss some of the best sights walkin' them, hardly relaxing. I practically grew up in the woods and Abby is pretty damn good at navigating the woods also, Warden. We ain't lost."

"Its much safer on the trails; much less likely running into dangerous wildlife or if someone gets injured, you'll be closer to help." The Warden continued.

Abby smiled at him. "We're fine, Warden, but thank you for your concern. And don't worry about the garbage, we'll be taking it with us."

The Warden sighed. "Alright, just be careful. I'd hate to hear that ya'll got lost or injured."

Abby laughed. "Don't worry Warden, I'm the queen of preparedness. I was a Marine, I have pretty good knowledge of emergency first aid and we both got survival skills. So, if for some unforeseen problem came up, we'd be alright."

The Warden nodded his head, tipped his hat once more before turning was walking back into the underbrush. When he was out of sight, Daryl rolled his eyes before laying back and putting his hands behind his head. Abby cleaned up everything but their two half finished beer cans. She glanced at him when she was done and saw he was watching her, so she smiled at him mischievously.

Abby picked up her backpack and beer, then nodded her head in the direction of a barely noticeable cavern that was mostly hidden by a waterfall cascading over it. Daryl quickly sat up, picked up his beer and excitedly followed after as she picked her way carefully along the streams rocky embankment, then down to the waterfall. Once they made it behind the waterfall, mostly dry, they continued into the small cavern until they were far enough back that no one would see them and Abby dropped her pack, putting her back to the rock wall.

Daryl put his beer on the ground, walked up to her and started kissing her passionately, pressing his throbbing erection against her hips. On the way, they had stopped at the pharmacy to pick up some condoms so they could be responsible despite their morning of repeated unprotected sex. So as Daryl hurriedly undid his jeans and shoved them to the ground, Abby pulled out a condom from her pocket, ripped it open and once he'd exposed himself, she slid the rubber over his manhood, causing him to shiver at the touch.

When he finally thrust himself in side her, it was a quick, hard and unexpected thrust, causing her to arc up towards him in an intense orgasm. Daryl gently forced her to lay back again as he continued to thrust into her, hard, his eyes focused on her bouncing breasts, ignoring the fact that she was already cumming. His lovemaking was hard and aggressive but she moaned for him to do her harder, even when she went limp beneath him, having climaxed, he continued. When she had gone limp, he'd let go of her shoulders then resumed his aggressive thrusting, this time on his elbows as she pulled his body towards hers as her body quickly revived and started climbing that mountain once more.

She was panting and moaning his ear, begging for him for more, so he finally reached down with one hand and lifted her hips which gave him a better angle to hammer into her. The sound she made when he thrust into her, only made him thrust harder like she wanted; he knew he had found her g-spot, right then, as she practically screamed him his name. Daryl finally started his climb to the top and this time they climaxed together.

Daryl collapsed on top of her, pressing his forehead against the side of her face as her arms and legs went limp around him. When he finally caught his breath, he flopped onto his back on the cold hard ground beside her and pulled the condom that was soaked inside and out with their cum, off. He threw the condom aside, as he looked at her.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" He asked, genuinely concerned. "I didn't mean to get that aggressive."

Abby laughed drawing his eyes to her breasts as they bounced with the movement. "Are you kidding me? That was the best sex of my life! I'll probably have few bruises in the morning but its _SO_ worth it. You can do that to me any time baby."

Daryl grinned and brought both hand and mouth to her breasts, feeling more than a little obsessed with them at the moment. Abby shove him on to his back, then crawled on top of him, shimming back until her face was over his manhood. She smiled at him, then ran her tongue along the long the length of him. Daryl bit his bottom lip as he watched her, his manhood going from semi limp to erect, immediately. She gave him a quick blow job, before putting another condom on him and slowly sliding herself on to his throbbing erection.

"Stay." She instructed him from where he lay on his back.

She stayed up right, having noticed his obsession with her breasts, as she gently thrust and rotated her hips as she raised her hands up in the air. His eyes were glued on them as he clamped his hands on to her hips like vice grips but he allowed her to continue moving them. He massaged her breasts, as she'd showed him, as she shoved his shirt up and rubbed her hands up and down his chest as she changed from rotating her hip to thrusting them with a little more gusto. Daryl suddenly grabbed her chest hard as he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and thrust his hips up to meet hers. She suddenly lost control of him as he rolled her on back and resumed his hard thrusts he'd been doing before.

He surprised her as he physically lifted her from the ground and put her against a wall. He bent her over, positioned her arms against the wall and resumed thrusting into her, completely dominating her. Her whole body was shaking under the strain but once again they climaxed together. This time, when he pulled out of her, he turned her towards him, wrapped her legs around his waist and sat on the ground together; panting and kissing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He panted as he kissed her but she just smiled at him.

"I'd have stopped you if I didn't like it." She said kissing him back.

Daryl smirked then laid his face against her neck and shoulder. "We should probably start heading back. It'll start getting dark soon." He mumbled into her skin.

She kissed him on the temple, unwrapped her legs from his torso and stood up. Daryl laid back, stuffed his still booted foot back into his jeans and pulled them up as Abby pulled on her clothes that were strewn on the cavern floor. Daryl picked up the backpack from the floor and pulled out a bottle of water as Abby straightened herself out, then walked over to him. After taking a sip from the bottle of water he handed it to her, the two of them carefully climbed back out of the cavern then back up the embankment.

They had just reached the main trail when a peculiar sound, that didn't fit the sounds of the forest, caught Abby's attention. Abby turned to Daryl and saw that he heard it too as he tilted his head to the side and listened, she followed as he suddenly veered off the path again and stopped to kneel down beside a bush. Abby looked over his shoulder as he pulled the shrub to the side and revealed a squirming black garbage bag. Daryl quickly picked it up and ripped the bag open to reveal six tiny day old kittens, squirming in side the bag.

"Oh my god!" Abby exclaimed as she reached down and pulled two of the kittens out.

Daryl grabbed the remaining four kittens in his big hands. "C'mon, lets hurry to the truck."

They ran the rest of the way to the truck and when they arrived, Abby pulled out her rain coat, laid the six tiny kittens in it and put it on her lap as Daryl climb into the truck. Like he had said, it was now dark but Abby pulled out her cell phone and called the emergency number for the nearest vet, anyways. The vet agreed to meet them at the clinic and sure enough, when they arrived at the clinic, the lights were on and the vet was waiting.

The vet frowned as he inspected the kittens. "You said you found them in a garbage bag in the middle of the woods?" He asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. We'd gone for a hike and when we were heading back, when we heard some tiny meowing sounds. Daryl here managed to follow the sound back to the bush we found them under it." Abby said as she stroked a kitten's head with her finger.

"Well they must not have been out there for a terribly long time, the seem mostly healthy. They're probably hungry but they don't seem to have any fleas yet. The next couple days you'll have to keep a close eye on them, without their mother, their chances of survival aren't good. I'll get you some kitten formula and some instructions on how to care for them…if you plan on taking them." The vet said.

"Yes, absolutely!" Abby said confidently. "I have a nice farm for them to grow up on. They'll spend most of it inside but they'll have free range, keep my mouse population under control."

"Sounds like they'll have a good home." The vet said smiling kindly. "I'm not going to lie to you, kittens this young, have a chance of dying."

Abby sighed. "I know, but I'll do my best."

After they picked up all the supplies the vet had recommended and paid for the visit, they climbed back into Daryl's truck and drove off.

"Are we still going to my place?" Daryl asked.

Abby kissed his cheek. "Absolutely! You still need to get to work in the morning and I ain't done with you." She said as she reached over and groped him through his jeans.

Daryl grinned at her wickedly. "Yes ma'am." He replied accelerating.

When they got to Daryl's house, Abby warmed up some water and together they fed the kittens for a second time. Daryl grabbed several towels from the bathroom and a box, then they placed the kittens inside. Abby placed the box of kittens beside the bed before turning to Daryl and wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him.

111

The next morning, Abby woke to find Daryl no longer in bed. Throughout the night, either one of them or the other, got up to feed the kittens, so her initial thought when she saw he wasn't there, was that he was feeding them but when she got up and left the bedroom, he was no where's to be seen and the house was _very_ small. Abby dressed herself then picked up the box of kittens and carried it to the kitchen, where she found a note, written on the back of a receipt, propped up against a plate of eggs and toast.

 _Morning babe,_

 _I thought I'd let you sleep, made you breakfast. Help yourself to anything in the house, I'll be  
back at lunch._

 _-D._

Abby smiled as she put the plate on the table, then the kittens, then warmed some more water to mix with the formula, so she could feed the kittens while she fed herself. After she finished with both tasks, Abby tackled the sink full of dishes. Apparently, Daryl used every dish in his cabinet before washing them or more likely just washed what he needed and left the rest in the sink. Abby looked around, Daryl wasn't to keen on cleaning up after himself.

Scattered around the room were dirty clothing, flyers, dishes and beer cans, as well as debris from him working on the house. Abby sighed and started cleaning, gathering his clothes into a basket and throwing them into his washer, then grabbing a garbage bag to clean up the scattered garbage and then she grabbed a bucket but discovered that he didn't have any kind of cleaner. Sighing, Abby grabbed her wallet and left the house, walking the six blocks to the nearest store.

The people in the store, all stared at her as she walked down the aisle but when she looked down to see if she missed doing something up, she saw nothing wrong. She quickly looked at her reflection in the sunglasses rack and still didn't see anything wrong with her face, so she shrugged it off and figured that they probably just weren't used to seeing strangers in this side of town. She picked up some cleaning supplies and some food to make lunch with, then walked back to Daryl's house. When noon rolled around, Daryl walked through the door, still in coveralls and stopped at the threshold to stare around the house in shock. Abby laughed at his expression.

"Are you shocked that you have a floor?" Abby asked as she placed bowls on his tiny table.

"Wasn't aware I let Martha Stewart in my house." He said as he walked forward and kissed her. "Thanks babe, you didn't need to do that."

"I know but I got distracted by your messiness. Sorry." She looked at him a little embarrassed.

Daryl smirked. "It's fine, shoulda figured that leavin' a woman in my pigsty would result in her cleaning it up. What you make?"

"Lunch." She answered sarcastically.

Daryl smiled then ran a finger down the side of her neck. "Nice spots." He said grinning wickedly.

Abby looked at him, shocked as she brought her hand up to her neck. She turned and walked into the bathroom and looked at her reflection. Abby blushed, she hadn't noticed the nearly one dozen hickies gracing her neck.

"Daryl!?" She called miffed, only to hear him chuckle.

"You said it was the best sex of your life, now you got proof." He said when she walked back into kitchen.

"That's why everyone was staring at me in the store!" She said slapping his arm playfully, then sat down at the table. "Next time no hickies!" She continued, trying to sound annoyed.

Daryl smiled as he grabbed a clean bowl from the table and spooned out a hearty helping of her homemade soup. Daryl had quickly learned in the beginning of their relationship, that she knew how to cook really well and he generally gobbled up anything she made for him with enthusiasm.

"So, how's your day been so far?" She asked him as he ate.

"No different than any other day." He answered nonchalant like, in between spoonful's.

"Not fixing anything interesting?" Abby asked.

"If by interesting, you mean a royal pain in my ass, then sure but any other way I'd say no." Daryl replied after swallowing his mouth full of soup.

"Whatcha fixin'?" Abby asked.

"A Jetta, the most annoyin' car to fix…or one of 'em anyways." Daryl grumbled then suddenly brightened. "Oh, got a raise today! A pretty good size one too!"

Abby stood up enough to give him a peck on the lips then sat down. "That's great, babe! I guess they like you there." She said happily.

"Guess so." He said trying to not smirk but failing, obviously proud of himself.

When he returned to work, Abby finished building the upper cabinets that he'd started on at one point, put the hardware on the doors and drawers, then poured some primer into the paint tray and finished priming the remaining walls in the house. She was surprised with how far he'd gotten, considering how much time he spent with her, he must spend long nights working on it. Lucky for him, the house was tiny and at the rate he was going, he'd probably be done in a couple weeks; where as Abby's home would take at least another month to get close to finishing the inside.

As Daryl walked through the front door once more, he paused and looked around in shock. She smiled as she trotted up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pecking him on the lips then resting her head against his shoulder while looking slightly over her shoulder.

"What d'ya think?" She asked him.

"It's great, makes up for me not doin' nothin' last night." Daryl replied as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "You can help my hang the cabinets too, while yer here."

Abby lifted her head and looked up at him, smiling happily. "Absolutely!"

He gave her ass a squeeze, eliciting a girlish giggle from Abby, then moved further into the house, walking over to where the cabinets sat on the ground. Abby grabbed the drill and screws while Daryl grabbed the corner cabinet, hoisted it up and matching it with the lines he'd drawn on the wall.

An hour and a half later, they'd installed all of the upper cabinets along with the drawers and doors for both the uppers and lower cabinets. They sat down at the table once more, the only sitting space Daryl had and stared at the cabinets in silence for a few minutes. After a while, Daryl looked over at her again.

"Atty said I could choose my own color to paint the walls, but I ain't planning on stayin' here long term so I figure I should paint it something more people would like but I wouldn't know what that'd look like." Daryl said.

"Let me guess, you want me to choose for you?" Abby asked smirking.

Daryl smiled in response. "You better yer fine ass I do."

Abby looked around the room and thought. "Well, this place is so small, I'd go with a brighter color."

"I hope you don't mean like a bright yellow." Daryl said as he cringed.

Abby laughed. "Absolutely not. Maybe a pale yellow but more likely a pale blue or minty green." Daryl gave her a doubtful look. "I have a bunch of paint chips at home, I'll show you what I mean."

"Speakin' of home, I should probably get you there." Daryl said yawning.

"Not so fast, you promised to show me your crossbow!" Abby said pouting.

Daryl smirked. "How 'bout I shower and change, then I'll get my crossbow an' we can go to your place."

Abby smiled at him coyly. " _We_ are going to shower." She corrected him as she stood up, brushing his neck with her finger tips as she sauntered towards the bathroom.

Daryl quickly pushed himself to his feet, rushing after her, wrapping his arms around her when he caught up. He hugged her momentarily then picked her up, then threw her over his shoulder and jogged the rest of the way to the bathroom with Abby laughing loudly as they went.

111

An hour later, Abby followed Daryl silently through the woods outside of her house in what was left of the daylight, watching him hunt. Abby promised to make him a hearty meal if he could catch her a rabbit with his crossbow. The fact that he got to go hunting with his crossbow seemed to be reward enough for him, but he was more then happy for the extra incentive and the chance to show off a little.

Abby enjoyed watching him work, the intense concentration, seemingly forgetting that she was even there as he watched the ground for tracks as he stopped ever so often to kneel down and inspect the ground. It had just begun to look hopeless when Daryl held up his hand for her to stop, then pointed out a rabbit nibbling peacefully on the grass. Daryl brought his crossbow up to his chest then, after pausing for moment to aim, he let the bolt fly, nailing the rabbit in the eye.

"Good shot!" She praised, impressed. "And super sexy too!"

He looked back at her to wink, then walked over to his rabbit and held it a loft. "You owe me supper now."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Like I wasn't going to feed you anyways."

They walked back to the house together, hand in hand; just barely breaking from the cover of the trees as the sun fully dipped behind the horizon. When they walked into the kitchen, Abby handed Daryl a knife to skin the rabbit while she started supper for them. They were half way through making supper, kissing and touching the whole time, when a loud knock came on the door followed by Rick suddenly storming in, looking like a thunder cloud.

Abby got a deer in the head lights look as Daryl took a huge step back, turning to his rabbit like he hadn't just had his hands down the front of her shorts. Abby suddenly snapped out of it, realizing that whatever was going on with Rick, had nothing to do with her as he paced the floor in front of the plastic table that she was using as an island, still dressed in full uniform.

"Rick, what's going on?" Abby asked, finally finding her voice as Daryl dropped the sliced-up rabbit into the frying pan.

"Lori!?" He shouted.

Abby frowned as she looked over at Daryl, who just shrugged. "What about Lori?" She asked wiping her hands and walking around the table to approach her very worked up brother.

Rick turned around and punched a hole into her newly drywalled, wall. "She's screwin' Shane!" He shouted.

Abby paused mid-step to stare at him in shock while Daryl turned to her mini fridge and pulled out a beer, popped the cap off and walked it over to Rick and held it out to him. Rick looked at him, then nodded his head in thanks as he took the beer and took a long swig from it.

"Where's Carl?" Daryl asked Rick as Rick wiped his mouth.

"He was staying with a friend. That's why I went home early, to spend some quality time with my wife." Rick suddenly sunk down into one of the few chairs Abby had in the room, suddenly exhausted.

Abby unfroze from where she stood and walked over to Rick then squatted down in front of him. "What happened?" She asked softly.

Rick finally inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. "Carl has this big assignment he has to finish and asked if he could spend the night with a friend so they could finish it. I was supposed to be working late today but I got Jerry to cover for me so I could go spend some alone time with my wife. When I got home, I heard her laughing all the way from the front door, in our bedroom, so I thought maybe Carl came home. So, I walked into our room only to find Shane and Lori naked in _my_ bed, screwin'!" Rick took a deep breath again to calm himself as his voice had started rising once more. "I threw the bottle of wine I'd been carrying, against the wall and stormed out, drove here."

"Oh, Rick. I'm so sorry." Abby said sympathetically, she knew exactly what it felt like to be in his shoes. "You can stay here as long as you need. You hungry? I'm just finishing up supper." Abby suddenly rushed over to her tiny camping stove to check on the food, luckily it hadn't quite burned yet.

Rick slowly got to his feet, looking like he was eighty years old. "No, I just want to go bed."

"Okay, just let me..." Abby started as she pulled the frying pan off the heat but Rick held up his hand.

"I know where the linens are, I can get myself settled. I'm sure I'm interrupting anyways." Rick said sighing as he got to his feet. "Sorry for just barging in here and—yer wall."

Abby came back around the plastic table again and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "This is your home too, yer always welcome here and you don't need to knock."

Rick chuckled lightly as he kissed the top of her head, then without another word headed for the stairs and climbed them two at a time. Abby watched him sadly then, when she turned back to Daryl, her anger flaring up like an angry beast.

"I can't believe her!" Abby said angrily as she took the plate that Daryl had filled with food.

"Knew there was somethin' not right 'bout that woman." Daryl agreed as he grabbed himself a beer from the fridge, then paused to look around the room. "And we really need to get you some more furniture. There's less stuff in here than my place! And my place is like a quarter of the size."

Abby chuckled as she took a seat on the ground. "Yeah, might need to go back to Atlanta an' pick up a couch and table set."

Daryl grunted as he sat down on the ground beside her. "Gotta work this Saturday. Works pilin' up, so everyone's comin' in to try an' catch up."

Abby kissed his shoulder. "That's fine, I'm a big girl I can go myself. Maybe get it delivered."

"If ya don't wanna wait for me, you can borrow my truck. I'll drive yer bike or something." Daryl said smirking slightly.

Abby chuckled. "You just wanna an excuse to drive it."

Daryl smiled as he reached up and brushed something off her face with his thumb. "Don't got nothing to ride right now, so yeah I'm gonna take advantage you havin' a bike."

"Are you goin' to look at that bike the salesmen was talkin' about?" Abby asked.

"Shit! Forgot 'bout that entirely!" Daryl exclaimed.

"I _have_ been keeping you pretty occupied." Abby reminded him as she leaned in for a kiss, which he obliged in returning.

"I'll call him in the mornin'." He said simply as he took her empty plate from her hands. "That was amazingly delicious, by the way." He said getting to his feet.

"Well I'm bushed, shall we call it a night?" Abby said as she watched him walk to the sink and run water over the plates.

"Should I really be stayin' over with yer brother here?" Daryl asked as he walked over to where Rick had punched a hole in her wall.

Abby shrugged. "It's well after dark and yer still here on a week day. I'm pretty sure he's put two and two together."

"Well I guess we'll see in the mornin' won't we?" He said smiling. "You go ahead. I'm gonna fix this hole, then I'll be up when I'm done."

* * *

Awe, poor Rick. With or without walkers, he still gets shafted! Hope you all enjoyed it! Have a good weekend!

-Shockra


	7. Chapter 7

Hey! How's everyone? Since my last intro was super long, I'll keep this one short. Against my better judgement, I'll probably be posting the first chapter of the third part to _Life Goes On_ , called _The Art of Deception_ , so look for it but not until tomorrow. I'm technically not done but very nearly. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

The next morning, Daryl had to wake up bright and early so that he could make it to work on time. Abby had gotten up even earlier and made him breakfast once more, as he showered and got ready for work. When he came down and started shovelling his breakfast into his mouth, she quickly made him a lunch and when he got up, she kissed him goodbye before he left. Rick didn't get up until an hour after Daryl had left for work, and as he shuffle down the stairs, he looked like the walking dead. His hair still out of sorts, like he had just rolled out of bed and staggered immediately for the stairs, and he had huge dark bags under his eyes which were also blood shot.

"Hey big brother." Abby said trying to be cheerful, while she continued to bottle feeding the kittens.

Rick shuffled to a stop and looked around groggily. "You really need a kitchen…and furniture."

Abby laughed as she put her last kitten down and walked into the skeleton of her kitchen and set the plate of food she'd set aside for him. "My cabinets should be here tomorrow and I'll go do some more furniture shopping on Saturday. I was gonna borrow Daryl's truck. Do you wanna come?"

Rick sighed as he sat down in her one and only chair. "Maybe. We'll see. With everything that's goin' on with Lori, I don't know what will be happening for the next couple of days."

"What _are_ you going to do about that?" Abby asked softly as she handed him a plate of food she'd made and warmed up.

Rick stared at the plate as he held it in his hands. "I don't know. I mean, I gotta do what's best for Carl but—I don't know what that is."

"Wish I could give you that answer but what happened between Martin an' I was only easy to settle _because_ we had no kids. I know I wanted kids but maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we never did." Abby said as she sat on the floor.

"You'll have kids one day, kiddo. Daryl seems like a good guy, I can see him being a good dad." Abby looked up at Rick shocked. "What?" He asked around a mouthful of food.

"I'm just shocked that you actually approve of him. People tend to look at him and think he's nothin' but trouble."

Rick wiped his mouth. "I'm a cop, I'm supposed be able to read people." He said shrugging.

"Cops _hate_ him! They're usually worse." Abby exclaimed.

"You're good at reading people too. You never liked Shane and look how that turned out." Rick grumbled then sighed. "I trust your judgement, I know I haven't in the past but you're a grown woman now. I need to remember that. Also, he makes you happy and relaxed. You just seem so much more like you since you started dating him. I haven't seen you so full of life since before mom and dad died. I can't be against that."

"He's very important to me, so thank you." She said softly. It meant more to her then he'd ever realize that he approved of Daryl. She fallen so in love with him so quickly, she didn't think Rick would approve of him.

"I noticed you didn't really bat an eye at the mention of kids. Have you two been talking about it already?" Rick asked, genuinely intrigued as he shovelled the last of his eggs into his mouth.

"No, not really but I think he's just come to the realization that he might want them, just by a comment he's made." Abby replied.

"Well, don't move too quickly, I know yer an adult now but you just started datin'. You barely know him." Rick said watching her carefully.

"So, you probably wouldn't like it if I offered for him to move in with me?" Abby asked.

"That had better be a joke!" He said firmly, pointing his fork at her.

"It is…for now." She said grinning. "It _has_ only been three weeks. I really like him, love him even, but like you said I barely know him."

"If it makes you feel better, he don't have any priors. That brother of his, on the other hand, you could almost write a novel with all that he's done." Rick said as he got up and walked over to her sink. "If he shows up, I'd advise you show him the door."

Abby frowned, uncertain if she was mad with her brother or not. "You did a background check on Daryl?"

Rick turned the tap on and started scrubbing his plate. "The guy was pursuing my baby sister, of course I'm gonna make sure he ain't no axe killer or drug dealer."

Abby sighed. "I suppose I get that, still annoying though."

Rick smiled slightly. "I better get ready for work."

"Do you even have clean clothes?" Abby asked as she dried his plate.

"No, that's fine. I'll swing by the house, pick up some clothes while Lori is bringing Carl to school. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to face her yet." Rick said as walked towards the steps.

"You want me to get you stuff? You can just go to work and not worry 'bout it." Abby offered.

Rick thought about it then shook his head. "No, I need to do it. Besides, I'd be more worried about you runnin' into Lori than if I did. I'd rather not have to arrest my little sister after the day I had yesterday."

111

Over the next week, Abby occupied herself with working on her house. With the help of Rick and Jeremy, she managed to install her cabinet's and counter tops, making her incredibly happy. She also rented herself a floor sander and sanded down the entire main level floors. Daryl, unfortunately had to work late every night to keep up with the workload that the garage had suddenly come into. Abby had offered to come out on Wednesday night but Daryl had been very weird about it, so she opted to stay home.

Throughout the whole week, Rick had spent the night at her place, unsuccessful in avoiding Lori and not having a terribly good encounter with her when he'd gone to grab his clothing. When the weekend rolled around, Rick had opted to return home but asked Abby to watch Carl for the weekend, so him and Lori could try and work things out. Abby agreed, more than willing to look after her nephew and Carl seemed enthusiastic about going with her to do more furniture shopping, as well as spending the weekend with her at the farm.

When Friday night rolled around, Abby pulled out her cell phone and called Daryl. It took several rings but eventually he did pick up. When he did, Abby could barely hear his voice as he answered but he must've moved outside because the background suddenly got silent.

"Sorry, babe. Still at the garage." He said once he found somewhere silent.

"It's okay." She said. "Are you still willing to lend me yer truck?"

"Yeah, of course. So long as I got a set of wheels to burn around with, then you can use it." He replied.

"Can I come get it now? I got Carl the whole weekend and it'd be easier to just get up an' go in the morning."

"Lori and Rick workin' on their shit or something?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, he'll be here in the next hour and a half, that's why I wanna come now to get the truck."

"Well you'll have to come to the garage. I'm gonna be here for the next couple hours." Daryl said almost sounding annoyed.

"Is everything okay? You've been acting strange all week." Abby asked, concerned. Wondering if she'd overstepped some where's, it had been a long time since she'd been dating.

Daryl sighed. "Sorry." He mumbled. "Its my brother...he's been trying to get a hold of me." Daryl made a sound that resembled a growl. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Alright. So long as I didn't do something." Abby said sighing.

"Naw, it's got nothin' to do with us." Daryl said confidently.

"Okay, I'll be right over."

It was just before eight when Abby left her house but it was already very nearly dark, showing signs that fall was fast approaching. Abby pulled on her tight, form fitting leather jacket that she hadn't used all summer, largely because it was too warm for the Georgia heat. She brought with her, the more masculine helmet she'd bought specifically for Daryl and the homemade soup she'd cooked on her little camper stove.

When she arrived at his work, she was shocked to see four other vehicles parked in the parking lot, she knew Daryl wasn't the only one working late but she didn't think there'd be so many working. Despite the chill, the two bay doors were wide open and the sound of machinery was coming loudly from within.

Abby parked her bike right beside Daryl's truck, hung the helmet she'd brought for Daryl from the handle bars then threw hers into the passenger seat of Daryl's unlocked truck and walked over to one of the open doors, soup in hand. Abby was immediately received by a whistle as she stepped in side, instantly irritating her. Abby knew Daryl wouldn't do that with others around, so she glared in the direction the sound had come from.

"I hope yer lookin' for me beautiful." The man said giving her a toothless grin. "Because I've been lookin' for you my whole life."

"Back off, man!" Daryl growled as he rolled out from underneath a large pick up and stood up. "She's here for me."

Daryl walked over to her, almost completely covered in grease and kissed her on the lips. She grinned at him as he looked her up and down, before escorting her back outside.

"Ain't seen you wear that before! You look incredibly hot." He said as he draped an arm over her shoulder while they walked over to his truck.

"That's because it _makes_ me hot. Too warm to wear it in the summer but it is so cool this evening, that I decided to wear it." She said as she gave his ass a squeeze. "Hope you're hungry, made you some soup."

Daryl took the dish from her and smelled it. "Smells amazin', can't wait to eat it. Ain't eaten anything since lunch." He said enthusiastically as they stopped beside his truck. Abby dug into his front jean pocket, pulling out his keys and getting a grin from Daryl. "Gettin' a little handsy are you?"

"I'd prefer to get even more handsy but that'll have wait until later." Abby replied, smiling back at him mischievously as she held out the keys to her bike.

Daryl blushed but was still grinning as he took them from her and shoved them into his pocket. "You want me to come over tomorrow night?"

"If you want to. I think Carl likes you, asked if you were going to be there this weekend. Plus, I might need your muscles." She said as squeezed his biceps.

"Sure, but I'm gonna need a soak afterwards." Daryl said leaning into her. "Seems like I've been workin' nonstop since Monday."

"I think we can do that. Take it easy on Sunday. Carl will be leaving sometime in the early afternoon. We can have some fun when he's gone." She said leaning in, then kissed him on the lips, adding a little tongue.

From the bay doors behind Abby, several whistles and catcalls erupted. Daryl flipped them the bird, while still kissing her, before stepping back. He glared in their direction then looked back at her. "Sorry, I know you hate that shit."

Abby chuckled as she stroked his grease streaked face. "It's fine, they're just jealous. So, will I be seeing you tomorrow night?"

"Damn straight. Hopefully I'll be off sometime in the early afternoon, might be there before you." Daryl said as he walked over to her bike and looked at the helmet.

"Just let yerself in. Mind checkin' on the kittens if you do get there before me?" Abby asked as she opened the door of his truck. "I probably won't take them with me."

"Of course." He said turning back to her as she stepped up into the truck. He held the door open a moment, leaning in for another kiss, to which she obliged before he closed the door for her.

Abby backed up his truck and watched in the mirror as the guys all came up to Daryl, slapping him on the back and obviously being ribbed, as she drove away. When she rolled up to her house, she was shocked to find Rick's police car in the drive way and the lights on in her house. Abby climbed the front steps of her house and entered to find, surprisingly, all three of them in the house. Abby looked around.

"Sorry guys, I thought you weren't coming for another hour!" She said as she hung her jacket on the post of her steps.

"Hi Aunty!" Carl greeted enthusiastically as ran up to her and hugged her.

"Hey kiddo!" Abby said happily as she hugged him back. "Did you bring yer stuff in yet?"

"Not yet." He said, then looked back at his parents uncertainly.

Rick pulled his keys off of the clip on his belt, still in uniform. "Why don't you get yer stuff and bring it upstairs?"

Carl smiled as he took the keys from his father and ran outside. When the door closed, Abby turned back to Rick and Lori. "So, what's going on?"

Rick sighed. "Lori an' I are going out of town for the next five days."

"Five?" Abby asked in shock.

"Yeah, I hope that's okay. We're gonna go to this couples therapy a few counties over. Work things out." Lori said.

Abby glared at her a moment, then looked back to Rick. "That's fine, would've been nice for more notice though."

Rick grimaced. "Sorry, I know this is last minute. Carl brought his homework and clothes for school. Just remember he needs to be there by quarter to nine and needs to be picked up by quarter after three. You think Daryl will let you drive his truck 'til Tuesday? Neither one of us are too comfortable with you driving him around on that death machine."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I'll ask. If he can't, I'll work something out. I'm sure someone will be willing to lend me their vehicle for a couple of days."

Carl burst through the door, then up the stairs. "Thanks, Abigail. I owe you." Rick said sincerely.

Abby shook her head as he came forward for a hug. "You don't owe me nothin'. I love lookin' after him." She said as they hugged.

Rick smiled at her then walked to the bottom of the steps and shouted up the stairs. "Carl! We're leaving. Come say good bye to yer momma and I."

Carl came running down the stairs, gave Rick his keys back then hugged his him, then his mom then ran back upstairs. "He probably found the kittens." Abby said as she watched him.

Rick chuckled then kissed Abby on the cheek before heading for the door. "Goodnight, baby girl. I'll call you tomorrow." Then left.

Lori opened her mouth to say something but Abby just held up her hand. "Don't. Just get out of my house."

Lori's expression darkened but she turned and walked out of the house without a comment.

111

The next morning, Abby got up bright and early to make Carl and herself, breakfast. When he came down, he stood by the kitchen island and ate his breakfast with enthusiasm with the same enthusiasm as his father.

"This is so good! Dad always said you were a good cook!" Carl said happily.

"Well hopefully tomorrow mornin' we'll have a proper stove to cook it on and a table and chairs to eat it at." Abby said as she sipped at her coffee.

"Is that what we're buying?" Carl asked.

"Yup and a sofa set, along with smaller things like coffee tables, lamps, that sort of thing. I'm sure you noticed, I ain't got nothing to sit on."

"Yeah, I noticed. Is Daryl coming over?" Carl asked hopefully again.

"Yeah, he'll be here sometime this afternoon. Probably be here when we get back." Abby said as she cleaned up his plate.

"Cool." Carl said. "He's your boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah he is. Do you like him?" Abby asked, as she wiped her shiny new counters.

"Yeah, he's different. I like him. Dad likes him too, which is nice since he didn't seem to like Uncle Martin too much."

"I'm gonna finish gettin' ready. You mind, feeding the kittens?" Abby asked as she headed for the stairs.

"Sure!" He said as followed her up the stairs.

They went to her room and she handed him the box of kittens, the formula and bottles. "You remember how?"

"Yup! Do you think mom and dad will let me keep one when they're old enough?" Carl asked.

Abby chuckled. "I don't know. Yer daddy likes cats, but I don't know 'bout yer mom. Maybe we should take 'em with us, they still need a lot of attention. We'll need to feed them at least once while we're shopping. Now scram, so I can finish getting ready."

Carl smiled and disappeared as Abby walked towards her bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she walked down the steps and found Carl sitting on the bottom step, petting the kittens.

"C'mon kiddo, let's get goin'. You ready?" Abby asked him as she squeezed by him and pulled on her cowboy boots.

Carl just nodded as he got to his feet and walked through the door Abby opened for him. As they walked to the truck, Abby fired off a quick text to Daryl, letting him know that Carl would be staying longer than expected, then climbed up inside. They then drove down the dirt road then headed for the highway.

As they drove, Carl told her all about his friends and his school life; Abby was even shocked to find that there were a couple teachers still there, who had taught her. When they arrived in the city, they headed straight for the furniture store. The two of them meandered through the store, Abby taking a few pictures every now and then to sent them to Daryl. Daryl seemed to actually like it that she was asking his opinion and even asked for more pictures of the stuff he thought he might like.

Within an hour, Abby had managed to find a dining set and a couple of bar stools she liked but had yet to find a couch set she wanted. So, she paid for what she had found, and moved on to another store. To her surprise, Carl seemed happy to follow along after her and help her find furniture. At noon, they took a break and headed for a small joint to have lunch.

Thankfully it had taken Abby only another couple of hours, after lunch, to find her sofa set and she managed to get everything but the sofa set into the back of Daryl's truck, along with a second mattress for the guest room that Rick and now Carl had been staying in. Abby knew how uncomfortable air mattresses could be.

When they rolled back onto her property, they saw Abby's motorcycle parked in its normal spot by her small detached garage. Abby backed the truck to the porch, then walked in side. When she entered the house, she found the lights on but no Daryl in sight.

"Daryl?" She called as she first walked the main floor. When she didn't find him, she turned to Carl. "Why don't you feed those kittens, I'm gonna see if Daryl's upstairs."

Carl nodded and brought the box of kittens to the kitchen island as Abby climbed the stair. Once at the top of the stairs, she looked down to the end where her room was located and saw her door was still wide open. Abby walked down the hall, and through her bedroom door, to find Daryl passed out on her bed.

He'd obviously taken a shower as his hair was still slightly damp and he was wearing clean jeans but no shirt. Daryl laid on his back with his one arm thrown over his face and was snoring ever so slightly, making her smile lovingly as she watched him. Abby stepped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her, before going back down the stairs. She walked over to where Carl stood and looked over his shoulder.

"How they doing?" She asked as she picked up one who'd obviously eaten, with milk all around her mouth.

"Great! I read on the internet that you should be able to introduce them to the more meaty kitten food soon." Carl said smiling up to her.

"Yeah they're growin' up quick. Do you think you an' me can unload that stuff ourselves?" Abby asked him.

"I thought Daryl was here?" Carl asked confused.

"He is but he fell asleep and he's had a very busy week, so I don't want to wake him." Abby explained.

"I think we can do most of it. I'll help you where I can." Carl said as he put the kitten back in its box, then set the box in the room behind the kitchen.

Together they walked back outside and dropped the tailgate. They first took in the smaller stuff like end tables and lamps, then moved on to the chairs and table. Once everything but the heavy stuff was unloaded into the house, Abby decided to move the mattress and box spring next. Abby had Carl back up the stairs so the weight would all come to her, and once they made it up to the top of the steps, the awkwardly maneuvered around the corner than into the bedroom.

Once they were downstairs once more, Abby stepped up into the truck bed once more then paused to eye up the stove and figure out how her and a thirteen year old boy were going to get it off the truck and into the house.

"The hell you doing?" A groggy voice came from behind them.

Abby turned to see Daryl walking out of the house, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "You were sleeping and I know you've had a long week. I thought I'd let you rest." She said smiling at him as he climbed up into the back of his truck.

"Ain't no way the two of you are gettin' this fridge and stove off by yerselves." Daryl said as he undid the straps holding them in place. "Boy, you help yer Aunt at her end." He ordered Carl as he started manhandling the stove and sliding it to the end of the truck.

Daryl hopped down and held on to it as Abby continued to push it forward with Carl's help. Once they had it off of the truck, Daryl took one end while Abby took the other and Carl held the door open for them. They brought it straight back into the kitchen and into its spot in the cabinet. Without pause, Daryl turned back to the porch, went outside and started moving the fridge to the end of his truck.

He paused for a moment to think about how he'd get the fridge off, then jumped down and had Abby tip it back towards herself while Daryl grabbed the bottom. After a bit of grunting and cursing, they had both fridge and stove set in place.

"Why don't you get supper ready while Carl an' I get things set up?" Daryl suggested as him and Carl centered the dining table.

Abby smiled then kissed him on the cheek. "Sure. Any special requests?"

"Spaghetti!" Carl said enthusiastically.

Daryl shrugged. "That works for me."

"Spaghetti it is." Abby said as she walked around her island and started working.

Half an hour later Carl came running down the stairs and stopped by island, smiling at her.

"Are ya'll done?" Abby asked as she strained the spaghetti.

"Yup! Daryl said he'd be right down." Carl said happily as he came around the island and pulled out three plates and three sets of utensils. "What're we doing tomorrow?"

"Haven't thought about it much. Usually I get Daryl to help me work on the house but we can do something fun instead." Abby said as she grabbed a couple of pot holders and set the food on her shiny new dining set.

"Can we go paintballing? I bet yer really good at it!" Carl suggested as he sat down.

"You really want to get yer ass handed to you by yer aunt?" Daryl asked as he came down the stairs.

"Maybe it can be me and you versus her! You can shoot, right?" Carl asked.

"Course I can shoot!" Daryl grumbled as he sat down, "Never used a paintball gun before, though."

"Its super easy! Anyways, they sometimes have competitions so maybe it could be us versus other people!" Carl looked up at Abby hopefully as she scooped out spaghetti into his plate.

Abby smiled. "We'll see kiddo, it's Sunday tomorrow so they might not even be open."

Abby walked around to Daryl but he mumbled that he could serve himself, so she held the pot out while he scooped over half the pot into his plate. Abby laughed then kissed him on the head, before grabbing the meat sauce. He gave himself another healthy serving, then shooed her away while he reached for the garlic toast. After quickly grabbing herself and Daryl a beer from her mini fridge and a can of pop, Abby finally sat down. Throughout the whole supper, Carl talked Daryl's ear off. Telling him all about his friends and favorite comics. Despite the fact that Daryl looked ten seconds from falling asleep, he was a good sport and responded as best he could.

When supper was done, Abby started clearing the dishes off the table as she looked at Carl. "It's getting late kiddo, you should go to bed. You haven't even touched yet homework yet."

"Oh c'mon, aunty. It's the weekend!" Carl complained.

"If you wanna go do anything fun tomorrow, you gotta get up bright and early so you can get that homework done. Understood?" Abby said firmly.

Carl gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah." Then started up the stairs.

"Just hold on one-minute kid!" Daryl growled. "You forgetting to say something to yer aunt?"

Carl looked at him confused for a moment, then suddenly the light bulb came on. "Oh, thanks for supper! That was really good!" He took another step then looked at them again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Abby repeated then resumed cleaning up. She waited for Carl to go upstairs then looked at Daryl, grinning. "Hello mister manners."

"You just cooked him a mean supper, the least the boy can do is say thanks." Daryl paused then chuckled to himself then looked up at her again. "Thanks for that, babe. It was really good."

Daryl had completely eaten everything she'd made so there was no food to clean up, just dishes. As Abby grabbed the plates, Daryl grabbed the remaining dishes and carried them to the sink.

"You don't have to do that." Abby said as he turned on the hot water to fill the sink. "You look wiped. Why don't you just go to sleep?"

"Ain't gonna make you clean up after me, especially when you just cooked dinner." He said as he started washing the dishes and handing them to her. "Besides, I still have plans for you." He continued as he grinned at her, looking her up and down.

She slapped his bare bicep but was also grinning. "You don't look awake enough to accomplish anything, let alone doing any pleasurin'."

Daryl bent towards her, hands still in the water. "Don't worry, I'll catch my second wind." He said in a low tone before flicking suddy water at her.

Abby giggled as she tried to block the spray of water, unsuccessfully. After hitting him with the towel, they hurriedly finished cleaning up and rushed upstairs, tiptoeing quietly passed the room Carl slept in.

Once inside their bedroom, Abby made sure the door was locked and turned to see Daryl's shirt on the ground and his pants quickly following. Abby bit her lip in excitement as she followed suite, pulling her shirt over her head and shoving her pants to the ground just as Daryl threw her over his shoulder and walked over the bed. Abby clamped her hand over her mouth as she laughed hysterically in delight, as she was suddenly dropped down on to the mattress. Daryl was instantly on top of her, kissing her stomach as he pulled her panties off.

When they were done, instead of going for a round two or three, Daryl pressed his face into her neck, arm wrapped around her torso and almost immediately plunged into a deep sleep. Abby sighed as she shoved down her disappointment, the man had been working nearly non-stop since last weekend. He had every reason to be tired.

111

Early the next morning, Abby was awakened by soft kisses on her neck and hands sliding down her side, over her pelvis, then between her legs. Apparently, Daryl was ready to start round two.

"Mmm." Abby groaned, slightly groggy.

Daryl didn't say anything as he climbed on top of her and started kissing her in earnest, a hand groping her breast. Abby spread her legs willingly as he situated himself between them, his other hand sliding down her stomach to her womanhood, finger teasing her entrance. Abby slid her right hand between them, grabbing his engorged manhood and sliding it inside her. It wasn't long before he rode her to her top, and then once more as he continued to plunge into her silky depths, her body now fully awake.

It wasn't until he erupted inside her, that she realized that once again, they'd forgotten to use protection. As he flopped onto his back beside her, she knew that a part of her should be mad but she wasn't. She had practically been asleep when he'd first started touching and kissing her, not fully comprehending everything but he had been wide awake. He should have had the presence of mind to grab a condom from her now dwindling collection in the night stand.

Abby turned her head towards the clock, it was just past four; Carl was likely still fast asleep. Abby smiled as she rolled onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow.

"Yer a naughty man, mister Dixon." She said still slightly breathless, perspiration clinging to her body.

He winced slightly but still smiled. "Sorry, wasn't thinking." He apologized.

Abby just shrugged it off, then rolled out of bed. "Let's go have a soak, Carl won't be up for a couple hours. Don't forget the rubbers this time."

Daryl smirked as he sat up and watched her walk to the bathroom, then finally got up to follow her. After a steamy hour-long bath, which was mostly a lot of love making, they got dressed for the day and went downstairs. Daryl sat down at the island and watched Abby start breakfast, a coffee in hand.

"So, Carl ain't leaving today?" He asked as he took a sip.

Abby shook her head. "Nope. They didn't tell me until they dropped him off. Don't mind looking after him but it'd be nice for a little more notice."

"Why the change?" Daryl asked although he seemed be trying to be polite instead of actually caring.

"A couples retreat or something." She answered simply.

"Didn't try to knock her teeth out, did you?" Daryl asked as he smirked, knowing her well enough to know that she actually might try.

"Carl was there. This is all grown up issues, they don't want him caught up in it nor do I—not that wasn't tempted." Abby said, mumbling the last part.

Daryl grinned at her before taking another sip of his coffee. They were silent for a little while, but eventually Abby looked at Daryl and studied him.

"So, what's going on between you and yer brother?" Abby asked. "You said he was trying to get a hold of you and you seemed upset about that."

Daryl looked instantly uncomfortable as he looked down into his coffee. "I wasn't expecting him to reappear so soon. Every time he takes off, he's usually gone for up to six months. Don't know what he does but when he reappears, he expects me to drop everything and go with him."

"And you don't want to." Abby finished for him.

"Why would I? I got you! Not to mention a good job that I actually enjoy, something I can see myself doing for a long time." Daryl rubbed his head in irritation.

"Then tell him that."

Daryl shook his head. "Merle don't listen worth shit. He don't care what I want. I do what _he_ wants me to do."

"Is that why you've been drifting all these years, because of him?" Abby asked. Daryl didn't respond, just kept his eyes glued to his coffee. "Well this is your life, not his. You live it how you want to."

"He's my brother, he's blood. Would you leave Rick hangin'?" Daryl asked finally looking up and studying her eyes carefully.

"If my brother needed me, no I wouldn't but he also wouldn't ask me to give up my happiness for him. In fact, that'd make him even more unhappy, if I did. Loyalty is a good trait to have, but sometimes you have to let them do things for themselves." Abby replied.

"He ain't askin' me to do anything for him, just—I don't know, keep him company."

"Technically, that is doing something but it sounds like he wants you to hold his hand while he does stupid shit." Daryl's face got a really dark as he looked at her, then suddenly lurched to his feet.

"You don't know shit! You don't know what it's like to be us, sitting pretty up there on yer golden thrown!" He looked like he wanted to say more but instead, he turned on his heels and stormed towards the door.

Abby trotted after him. "Daryl, wait!" She called and he stopped with his hand on the door knob. "Yer right, I don't know Merle nor the dynamic between you two. I didn't mean to insult you, I just..." Abby faded off and looked despairingly at the ground. She knew she was in love of him but until that moment, she hadn't realized how much.

"You what?" Daryl asked quietly. He didn't sound as mad as he had a moment ago but Abby could tell that saying the wrong thing would send him out of that door.

Abby sighed as she weighed her words. "I want you to be happy, you deserve to be happy. I also want you to stay, you have no idea how much I want you to stay but if staying makes you _un_ happy..." Abby faded off again this time truly at a loss. She REALLY didn't want him to go but if he was unhappy being with her, she didn't want that either.

Daryl was suddenly in front of her, lifting her chin with his finger. "I _am_ happy because I'm with you. Staying, makes me happy. Merle's just...a touchy subject. I probably overreacted. My whole life, everyone has considered me trash or a waste of time but Merle, he's the only one who's ever cared. He's looked out for me the best way he can. So, I get a little defensive when people start talking smack about him...he deserves happiness too."

Abby stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "Everyone deserves happiness but it ain't yer job to bring it to him. I'm sorry I offended you."

"No, I'm sorry. I need to work on my temper some more. I love you." He said as he put his cheek on top of her head.

Abby suddenly straightened up as a burning smell waft over her. "Shit!" She exclaimed as she rushed into the kitchen.

"Sorry." Daryl mumbled as he followed her back to the kitchen.

"What's burning?" Carl mumbled as he stumbled down the stairs.

"Just the French toast, I got side tracked. Did you do your homework yet?" Abby asked as she threw the burnt food in the garbage.

Carl made an exasperated sigh as he sat in the stool next to where Daryl had sat. "Not yet, I will after breakfast."

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading! Have a good day/night!

-Shockra


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone! I hope you had a good week! Without further adieu, enjoy the show!

* * *

Abby smiled as Daryl scowled at the paintball face mask that he held in his hand.

"I know I gotta wear it but I'm gonna look like a tool." Daryl grumbled.

Abby laughed as Carl smiled up at him. "No, you'll look cool! Like me!" Carl said then pulled down the mask over his face and posed.

"Stay like that!" Abby ordered while she pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of Carl and Daryl standing together.

She rather liked the way Daryl looked in the armour they had been supplied for painting balling. The tight black shirt accented Daryl's semi-muscular frame and the padding made him look big and menacing. Abby had opted to pay the extra money to upgrade the guns to ones that looked more like assault rifles for her and Daryl while Carl stuck with the standard issue gun.

Like Carl had predicted, there was a tournament going on. It was largely teens and young adults who were participating, with teams of four or five but Abby was pretty sure that between her and Daryl, they'd school every last one of those youngsters.

Abby handed Carl her phone. "Take a picture of us." She instructed him as she walked over to Daryl and wrapped her arm around his waist. Daryl sighed but wrapped his arms around her shoulders and smiled slightly as Carl took the picture.

Their little team was third on the list to compete, so they stood on the side lines and watched the other teams battle it out. Abby quickly taught Carl some hand signs, apparently Daryl already knew all of them ones she was teaching him, then they worked out a strategy. Abby was immensely competitive and she could tell that Daryl was too but they were supposed to be having fun with Carl and she didn't want to ruin it for him, so she tried to tone her competitiveness down.

This paint ball course was located deep in the woods, offering the owner's a natural obstacle course and the sense of adventure that the concrete courses in city, couldn't offer. It was situated in a natural gully and had trees and shrubs everywhere and even a small stream on the one side. The owner had also set up barricades out of fallen trees and made little cubby holes for competitor's hide in. Abby's natural instinct was to find the higher ground and wait but she didn't think her normal tactics would work the same on a bunch of kids.

When their turn came, they stood by their start point and waited for the signal to be sounded. When the sound went off, they moved quietly into the forest, using the trees for cover as they went. From what the other participants had told her, the team they were facing actually competed competitively in a league and showed no mercy for newbies. Daryl and Abby agreed, they were going to whip those boy's asses.

Abby signalled for them to stop as she heard a branch snap to her left and slightly ahead. She looked back at Daryl who was already looking in that direction, then signalled for him to check it out. Her and Carl crouched down behind a barricade while they waited for him, Abby keeping her ears perked and eyes peeled as they waited.

She suddenly heard two successive pops then a whiny "Aww, man!" from that direction. The voice had been way to high pitched for it to be Daryl, and when he came back, she could tell he was grinning behind his mask.

They moved forward again, only to have to duck behind cover as a volley of paint balls sailed by them. Abby peered over the corner and saw only three of the remaining four.

"There's only three there." Abby whispered to Daryl. "Keep an eye out for the fourth trying to sneak up on us. Carl and I will take care of them."

Daryl nodded then turned to survey the woods around them. Abby focused on the three in front of them.

"Remember kiddo, no more than a couple of shots at a time then duck behind cover again." Abby whispered.

"Right." Carl said, nodding solemnly.

Abby quickly popped up aimed, fired off one shot then ducked behind cover. She grinned, the paintballs weren't the most accurate kind of ammunition but she was still one hell of a shot, having nailed the kid right between the eyes.

"I got one!" Carl exclaimed in delight.

"So, did I. That leaves just two more." Abby whispered.

There was a quick exchange of fire behind her and when she turned, she saw Daryl looking at her smug. "Make that one."

"Okay. Rock, paper, scissors on who gets the last one." Abby said to Carl as she held out fist.

He smiled then held his fist out also. At the count of three they revealed their choices; Carl choosing rock and Abby choosing paper.

"Sorry kiddo." Abby said smiling.

Daryl leaned against their barricade as she prepared to stand up, got her attention and indicated a different direction. The kid had wisely moved from where his buddies had been brought down but he failed to escape Daryl's sharp senses. The kid was creeping from tree to tree but he was still very much in their view. Abby raised her paintball gun, then waited for him to break cover once more. When he did, instead of showing off with a head shot, she double tapped him in the chest.

The kid looked down at his armour in bewilderment then up at them, as they stood up. Carl let out a whoop and jumped on Abby, hugging her. All five guys walked up to them, scowling.

"How on earth two old people and a kid beat us?" One kid asked.

"Hey, we ain't old." Abby growled.

"Show some respect, boy." Daryl also growled. "It's just a game and you lost. Live with it."

They all walked off after that, Daryl not being shy about putting on an air of aggression. The next two rounds were even easier, giving Abby a chance to entertain the crowd a little more instead of just putting them down as quickly as possible. Carl was thrilled when then handed him the small trophy and a five hundred dollar gift card to the local department store.

"Can we spend it right away?" Carl asked as they all climbed into Daryl's truck.

"What you gonna do with five hundred bucks?" Daryl asked as he fired up his truck.

"Well, you and aunty technically won it so I thought we could split it three ways." Carl answered as they drove off.

"My question is still the same."

Carl looked over at Abby. "Could I get a bike with my portion?"

"You sure can." Abby responded smiling at him, then looked at Daryl. "Do you mind?"

Daryl shrugged. "So long as we don't spend too much time there. Don't especially want to spend my weekend shopping again." He replied then suddenly a thought seemed to dawn on Daryl. "Bought that bike from that salesman a couple days ago. Totally forgot to tell you."

"Oh? When did you get the time for that?"

"Went in late after work on Thursday. Haven't touched it though, so I don't know what I need yet." Daryl said as he pulled on to the highway, heading for King County.

"You bought a motorcycle? Like aunties?" Carl asked.

"Sorta. It's newer than hers and it don't work at the moment. The former owner severely abused it." Daryl replied.

"The body as good as the salesman claimed?" Abby asked.

"Not quite but it was decent though." Daryl answered. "Talked him down a bit, got a pretty good deal."

"Now to find the time to fix it. You're getting a lot on yer plate!" Abby exclaimed. Daryl just grunted as they continued driving.

When they got to the department store, Carl immediately struck off on his own to look at the bike's, while Daryl and Abby held hands as they wandered the aisles with a basket in hand. Daryl was mostly interested in the hunting and camping stuff but she managed to drag him to the lingerie section to pick a few items for them. Daryl was grinning at her as they walked away from the section, probably already imagining her in them. All Daryl got with his portion of the gift card was a dozen bolts for his crossbow and a pair of girlfriend approved boots while Abby got her lingerie and new cowboy boots.

When they wandered over to where the bikes were located, it was all Abby could do to not let her anger shine through. As they came to the section, Abby found Shane helping Carl select a new bike with Jeremy standing beside Shane looking unimpressed, both still in uniform. When Jeremy saw her, he walked briskly over to her and put a hand out.

"Don't cause a scene." He whispered to her.

"I'm not putting Carl in the middle of this. I'm not stupid." She hissed back at him quietly then stepped around him towards Carl.

"How's it goin' kiddo?" She asked Carl, ignoring Shane's existence.

"I thought I like that blue one but Shane says this brand is better." He said straddling the 'Shane approved' bike.

"Well this is about what you want, not what Shane wants you to want." She replied, trying to keep the venom from her voice.

"Hey I'm just tryin' to help." Shane replied.

"Shouldn't you be working? Catching speeders and that sort of thing? Not shopping." Abby asked coolly. "I seem to run into you a lot in stores."

"We were actually here on duty. Shoplifter." Jeremy said trying to calm her down.

"What do you think, Daryl?" Carl asked, causing Shane to frown and glare at Daryl, Carl's hero worship obvious in his voice.

"I think you had it right, kid. That blue one looks better built, the welding looks solid and them rims are nice." Daryl replied sounding completely unperturbed by Shane glaring daggers at him.

"C'mon, Shane." Jeremy started, slapping Shane on the back. "We should get our shoplifter back to the station."

Shane looked like he wanted to get into it with Daryl but Daryl was ignoring Shane's existence as he walked forward and pulled out a blue bike, indicating for Carl to get on. Carl got off the other bike and climbed on to the bike, then grinned hugely up at Daryl.

"Yeah, I like it better. I want this one." Carl said making up his mind.

"Sold." Daryl said as Carl got off and hoisting the bike onto his shoulder like it weighed nothing. "C'mon, think we're done here."

Jeremy pecked Abby on the cheek, then him and Shane left the store as her, Carl and Daryl, went to the cash register to pay for their items. Once they paid for their stuff, Daryl threw their stuff into the back of his truck and the three of them climbed back into the truck and headed back to the farm.

111

Later that evening, Abby and Daryl were lying in bed, cuddling after another vigorous session of love making. This time Daryl had his head on her chest, one arm under the small of her back while the free hand lazily traced the contours of her body.

"You know, yer kinda good with kids." She mumbled sleepily, feeling utterly relaxed as she stroked his hair with one hand and the stubble of his beard with the other.

Daryl scoffed, his breath tickling the flesh of her bare breast. "No, I'm not. I'm so damn awkward...like with everything else."

"You might feel awkward but you'd be surprised at how natural you come across." Abby insisted. After pausing for a moment, she continued. "You know Carl practically worship's the ground you walk on, right?"

"Unlikely. The kid barely knows me." Daryl said, starting to mumble as he too became drowsy.

"He does! Why'd you think Shane was giving you such a stink eye? He's jealous." Abby said then lifted her hand to stifle a yawn, before resuming stroking his face. "We should sleep, babe. You got work in the morning."

Daryl groaned. "One day off ain't enough."

Daryl propped himself up momentarily, scooted further up so that his head was now on her pillow as she turned to face him. They wrapped their arms around each other as Abby tucked her head under his chin, then they quickly faded off to sleep.

111

The next morning Abby woke to banging on her door. "Aunty! Wake up! I'm gonna be late for school!"

Abby lurched up and looked at the bed beside her, which was empty. She then looked at the clock as she rubbed her eyes and noticed it was quarter after eight. Abby cursed as she threw off her covers and ran to her closet. She was normally an early riser, it was not like her to be late for anything.

"Sorry, kiddo! I slept in. Go make yerself lunch!" Abby hollered as she rushed to get dressed.

"I already did." Carl replied through. "Fed the kittens too. By the way, Daryl left his truck keys on the island. He figured mom would get upset if you drove me to school on yer bike."

Abby pulled the door open, tooth brush in her mouth as she braided her messy hair. "Let's go!" She said awkwardly around the tooth brush.

They trotted down the stairs, Abby making a quick detour to grab Daryl's truck keys, then running out the door to the truck.

"You got yer homework and lunch?" Abby asked as she fired up the truck.

"Yup." Carl replied confidently, looking at her slightly amused. Probably not used to seeing her look so frazzled.

"You sure?"

"One hundred percent." Carl answered confidently once more.

Abby threw the truck in reverse, backed up quickly then kicked up gravel as she sped down the driveway then on to the dirt road. Abby managed to get Carl to school in record time, with only a minute to spare. He said a quick good bye as he jumped out of the truck, before running so he could get to class on time.

Abby sat there on the side of the road idling for several long minutes, her head resting on the steering wheel, toothbrush still in her mouth, as she collected herself. A tapping sound on the window startled her, causing her to jump as she looked up. When she looked out her driver's side window, she saw Shane standing there in uniform. Abby scowled but after spitting her toothpaste into a cup, she rolled down her window.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Shane asked peering into the cab.

"At work." Abby replied curtly. "What'd you want?"

"I'd appreciate you keeping yer methed out loser boyfriend away from Carl." Shane said trying to sound reasonable.

Abby clenched the steering wheel tightly to prevent herself from punching Shane, she wouldn't be able to use her PTSD this time. "Excuse me? Last time I checked, _Rick_ is Carl's father, not you. Just because you were screwin' his momma don't give you the right to parent him."

"I'm serious Abby! Him and his brother are bad news! I don't want that around Carl. You neither." Shane looked like he thought he was being considerate.

"You know nothin' about Daryl! Just 'cause Merle's been into all sort of trouble, don't mean Daryl's no good too. He don't do drugs and he's good man. Even Rick thinks so. He knew Daryl would be over this weekend, he don't care. So, you have no right to tell me to keep Daryl away from _my_ nephew." Abby growled. "We're done here." Abby rolled up window, then drove off.

Abby slid to a stop in front of her house, slamming the truck door as she marched towards her house then slammed the front door. After taking a long shower, trying to wash away the stress of her encounter with Shane, she went downstairs to quiet her rumbling stomach. After feeding herself, she decided to make her and Daryl a tasty lunch.

After finishing getting herself ready for the day. She once again climbed into Daryl's truck and drove back into town. On the way to the grocery store, the sound of a police car siren, sounded behind her. Abby rolled her eyes as she pulled over to the side, then watched her mirror and was a little surprised to see Jeremy climbed out of the car. He was grinning as he walked up to her window.

"What can I do for you officer?" Abby asked, smirking.

"License and registration." Jeremy said, trying to keep a straight face but in the end, he cracked a grin once more. "Just kidding. You seen Shane?"

"Did you seriously pull me over to ask if I've seen Shane? There's this new invention called a telephone." Abby said sarcastically. "And aren't you boys supposed to have your radios on at all times?"

Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. Just saw you driving and decided to ask. Why you driving Daryl's truck anyway?"

"Daryl let me drive it today, figured Lori would freak out if I drove Carl to school on my bike." Abby replied.

Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah she probably would freak out. Considerate of him. I have to admit, I wasn't too sure of him but he seems alright, even Rick likes him and that—is a first."

Abby laughed. "Yeah I'm as shocked as you. Shane on the other hand, is being an ass. I did see him about an hour ago, he came up to me after I'd dropped Carl off at school and told me to keep Daryl away from Carl." Abby's face darkened as she thought about their confrontation once more.

Jeremy shook his head. "Ass. Ever since it's come out that him and Lori were together, he's been acting like Lori and Carl are his. It's like he thinks he can be a better dad then Rick. If it weren't against worker laws, I think Rick'd have fired him already."

"I'm pretty sure Rick could find something to fire him for, he's been bailing Shane's ass out of trouble since they were kids." Abby growled.

"Tell me about it." Jeremy said with a sigh. "Anyways, Daryl gonna be down for supper today? I was thinkin' of crashing yer house for supper, get to know the guy better."

"I don't think he was planning on it but I was planning on bringing him lunch, so I'll ask him if he'll come over. Either way, you can come. Carl would probably like the company." Abby said.

"Alright, you've pulled my leg." Jeremy said, grinning. "Better get going, people probably don't like me slowing traffic up."

Jeremy winked at her then walked back to his car. As she pulled away, Jeremy finally turned off his lights and also pulled away. Abby finally made it to the grocery store, now with a longer shopping list than she had when she'd left the house. Almost forty-five minutes later, she was finally back home in her kitchen, sorting supplies and getting ready to cook.

After sending Daryl a quick text to let him know she'd be coming to see him for lunch, she went to work making them lunch. An hour and half later, she packed up the food in an insulated container, grabbed four beers then headed out once more. When she rolled into Daryl's driveway, she was surprised to see her motorcycle in his driveway already.

Frowning, Abby walked up the sidewalk to Daryl's front door and walked in without knocking. "Daryl?" She called, not seeing him in the small living area.

As she walked to the fridge, to put the beer away, she heard the creak of Daryl's bed then saw him shuffle into the kitchen; hair sticking out in every direction. "Hey." He mumbled as he tried to pat his hair down.

"Am I late?" Abby asked as she set the food on the new counters.

Daryl shook his head. "Naw. Since we worked on the weekend, the boss decided to give us all an hour and a half lunch. Figured I should take a nap since I haven't been sleeping much."

Abby smiled. "Sorry."

Daryl chuckled as he came up behind wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck. "I don't mind spending my nights with you, it's the long days at work that's wiping me out."

"Speaking of spending the night with me; why didn't you wake me up this morning?" She asked as she divvied the food onto two plates.

"You were sleeping so soundly, lookin' so beautiful, didn't want to wake you up." He said as he moved down her neck to her shoulder.

"Well apparently I was so soundly asleep and I wouldn't have woken up in time to drive Carl to school if he hadn't come banging on my door. I'm not sure if he made it on time yet or not. There was like a minute left before the bell." Abby groused.

Daryl chuckled as he finally let her go and walked over to his tiny table. As he sat down, she picked up the plates, setting down one in front of Daryl and the other where she was going to sit. She went back to the counter grabbed them a fork and knife, the only ones that he had, then brought them to the table before walking to his fridge.

"There ain't no beer in there." Daryl said through a mouthful of food.

"I brought some with me." She said as she brought them over to the table and finally sat down.

Daryl instantly popped one open, chugged almost half the bottle then resumed eating.

Abby chuckled. "A little hungry?" She asked.

Daryl smiled. "Famished."

After a brief pause, Abby spoke again. "You wouldn't believe what Shane said to me today." Abby said as she scooped up a pile of potatoes and brought it up to her mouth.

Daryl looked from his plate, which he held a loft in one hand while shovelling potatoes and chicken into his mouth with the other and frowned. "What'd that ass hole say now?"

"Told me to keep you away from Carl, figures you're a bad influence." Abby replied rolling her eyes before putting the food in her mouth.

Daryl lowered his plate while looking angrily off into the distance. "He needs an arrow in the ass." Daryl growled making Abby laugh. Daryl smirked as he asked. "What'd you say back?"

"That he ain't Carl's father and my brother happens to like you. Told him he don't know shit about you. Shane tried to tell me yer nothin' but trouble, mostly because of Merle's screw ups." Abby shook her head, annoyed.

"He checked into me?" Daryl asked angrily.

"Technically, so did my brother but he has a little more reason. You could be president of the Yacht club and he'd still check yer criminal history. As for Shane, he thinks it's his God given right to boss me around and tell me how I'm screwin' up."

"Why's yer brother friends with that guy? He don't seem the type to put up with pricks like him. Jerry, I get. He seems alright—even knowing you two were a thing once." Daryl said mumbling the last part.

Abby rolled her eyes. "We weren't a _thing_ , just... friends with benefits. And all three of 'em have known each other since they were like eight, I guess you develop a blindness to your friend's stupidity after knowing them for that long." Daryl grunted then resumed shoving food into his mouth as Abby ate a couple bites of food then looked at Daryl again. "Thanks for lending me yer truck by that way."

"No problem. Can't say I'm sufferin' for it, I'm rather enjoying driving your bike around. Carl's stayin' one more night, right?"

"Yup, that's what they told me." Abby said nodding.

When he finished eating and cleaning his plate, he looked over at the clock on the wall, then looked back at her smiling.

"Wanna screw? Still got half an hour." He asked nodding towards the bedroom.

Abby smiled at him coyly. "Are you sure you can stay awake long enough?"

Daryl reached across the table and tried to flick her nose but Abby leaned back just in time, laughing. Daryl stood up and walked around the table as Abby got up, bent over and threw her over his shoulder. Abby laughed the whole way to his bed, smacking his ass every couple of steps.

When he eventually left to go back to work, Abby remained in bed for a while, taking in Daryl's scent as she lay there. As she laid there, she started to reminisce about how she felt in the better years of her marriage, then compared it to how she felt now. Martin had been able to make her laugh but Daryl could send her into hysterics with his odd sense of humor. When her and Daryl did argue, they seemed to reach a resolution fairly easily but they hadn't dated long enough to her to know if that'd continue. When her and Martin argued, they didn't seem to come to a resolution easily and very often never agreed and just gave up.

She had never been in love with Martin, she was certain of that but she was pretty sure she'd never been in love before, period—until Daryl. She was so in love with him, that if he asked her to marry him today, she'd say yes. Daryl was obviously in love with her too, he didn't seem to be bothered by the thought that he might get her pregnant; they kept on having unprotect sex, like just now. Abby knew why it didn't bother her, she'd wanted a baby for a long time already and she was pretty sure Daryl would be a good dad.

Abby looked at the clock beside Daryl's bed, it was one-thirty. Abby finally rolled out of bed and got dressed. As Abby exited the bedroom, she looked around the small living area. It was largely put back together; the walls had been painted to the color that Abby had recommended to him and the kitchen had a countertop and a tile back splash. All that seemed left was for him to finish replacing light switches and plugs. And to his credit, he had kept the place clean; probably worried about her dropping by again and cleaning up after him.

Abby jumped a little when a knock came at the front door. She thought about ignoring it for a moment, it not being her house, but in the end, she thought it'd be ruder not to. When she opened the door, a tiny old lady stood on the front step holding a container, smiling up at her.

"You must be Abby." She stated then offered her hand. "I'm Attison, Daryl's landlady. It's nice to meet you finally."

Abby shook the old woman's hand and smiled at her. "He's told you about me?"

"Oh, absolutely. Most of what he does talk about entails you. He's quite smitten with you, dare I say he's in love with you." She nodded her head slowly. "He's a good man that one, comes over to fix things for me and cuts my grass. Please don't hurt that good man."

Abby's smile softened from pleasantly polite to affection. "I have no intention of doing that. Don't tell him this but if he popped the question, I'd say yes."

The woman sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. He deserves something good for once. I can see it in his eyes, he's suffered a lot. He has a hard time trusting people, expects the worse out everyone. But since he's started dating you, he's been so much happier."

"I'm glad to hear that. People tend to make the wrong assumption about him, think he's violent and up to no good. I'm glad to hear that someone actually understands him."

"Like wise. Now here, I brought this for him so he can eat supper. I heard how busy they've been at the shop, I didn't think he's been eating too well this last week."

Abby took the offered container. "Thank you, I'm sure he'll be grateful. I'll leave him a note, let him know you dropped it off."

"You aren't staying?"

"No, I have to pick my nephew up after school and look after him until his folks get home."

"Oh, too bad. I'm sure Daryl would have liked you to spend the night."

Abby laughed. "I'm sure he would have."

"Well I'll let you go dear, it's nice to meet you."

"And you as well."

When she disappeared down the driveway, Abby closed the door and walked to the fridge, putting the food away. She then set out to find a paper and pen but after searching every drawer in the house, she'd found neither. She looked momentarily at her phone, considering texting him but instead grabbed the truck keys and left.

She drove the couple blocks to his work then climbed out once more. Once again, the bay doors were wide open as the scream of power tools came loudly from within. Once she'd parked, she jumped out of the truck and walked to the open doors. She paused to look around, she saw several of other men, whom she had seen on Friday when she'd pick up Daryl's truck, but she couldn't see him standing anywhere. She was about to ask someone where he was when she saw a pair of familiar boots sticking out from underneath a banged up half ton. She smiled as walked over and kicked his feet.

"What?" Daryl snapped as he rolled out from underneath. He looked annoyed but that instantly changed when he saw who it was.

"Long time no see, sexy." She said as leaning against the truck as he sat up on his crawler.

Daryl grinned. "Whatdya doin' here? Figured you be home by now."

"Well I was going to just leave you a note but apparently you don't have even one scrap of paper or one pen, so instead of texting you I decided to pay you a visit on the way home." She replied.

"Why'd you need to leave me a note?" He asked as he continued to look up at her from his seat.

"Your landlady stopped by left you some food. Gonna be well fed today."

"You met 'er huh? Nice lady, too bad she's got shitty kids. Look babe, love to talk to ya but I gotta get back to work." He said as he got to his feet.

"I know, I get it. Just wanted to tell you 'bout the food and say good bye. Probably won't see ya 'til the weekend again." She said as he approached.

"Probably not. If it's not too late I'll call ya, okay?" He said.

"Okay." She leaned forward and he obliged in kissing her but just a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you around." She kissed him again then turned and started walking towards the truck then stopped and looked back. "Just so you know, Jeremy's comin' over for supper. He wanted to visit with you but I'll tell him you had to work. Daryl looked off to the side, looking unhappy. "I can tell him to come another night." Abby offered, not wanting to make Daryl uncomfortable.

Daryl shook his head. "No, he's your friend and I trust you."

Abby's face softened, Daryl didn't trust easily and she was glad he trusted her. "Alright. Call me when you get home." She waved then continued walking back to the truck.

When Abby got home, she went to work making a nice supper for her, Carl and Jeremy. She put the pot on the stove and left the meat on it's pan and put it in the fridge and left to go pick up Carl.

When she arrived at the school, he came running out of the school and waved at her enthusiastically when he saw her. Once he climbed inside, Abby headed straight for home.

As they walked up the steps Abby ruffled Carl's hair. "You should go do your homework now, then you don't have to worry about it when Jeremy comes over."

"Jerry's coming?" Carl asked enthusiastically. "Is Daryl coming to?"

Abby smiled as they walked into the house. "Yes, to Jeremy and no to Daryl. Daryl's still got a lot of work to do, he's gonna be workin' late."

"Oh." Carl said sadly. "Well Jerry's cool too."

Abby laughed. "I won't tell him how disappointed you were that it was _just_ him coming over."

Carl grinned sheepishly. "I see Jerry all the time. He's basically an uncle. Daryl's awesome, even if he can be a little awkward sometimes, he knows how to do so many cool things!" Carl suddenly got a hopeful look in his eye. "Do you think he'd teach me how to shoot that crossbow he talks about! Or even a _gun_!"

Abby smiled as she patted his head. "He could probably be persuaded with the crossbow but yer daddy would love to teach you to shoot. That's the kind of thing dad's wanna do themselves!"

Carl suddenly looked glum. "I doubt mom would let him."

"Have you asked?"

"No." Carl said as he shook his head. "But I know what mom's like."

"It never hurts to ask." Abby said. "Your grandma didn't want to know how to shoot, so instead of your grandpa teaching me, your great grandpa taught me!"

"Then can you teach me?" Carl asked, suddenly hopeful again.

Abby laughed again. "Ask your daddy first, then we'll see. Now go do your homework, I gonna finish supper."

Several hours later, Abby and Jeremy sat on the ground of her living room, drinking and laughing. Supper had been eaten and cleaned up and Carl had already been asleep for several hours. They had been trading stories from their jobs, mostly light hearted funny ones but the atmosphere suddenly sobered up when Jeremy asked if she'd lost friend's and if she'd seen then die.

Abby looked at her hands as she peeled the label. "I've lost several friends." She answered quietly. "And I saw most of them die."

Jeremy suddenly looked guilty. "I'm sorry, I was an ass to ask that."

Abby shook her head. "Its okay, you meant no harm."

"Rick says that you've been doing great lately." Jeremy said as he sat forward and put a hand on her knee "I'm really happy that you are doing better."

Abby nodded. "I still get the nightmares sometimes but they aren't so intense. That incident with Shane was the first and only one I had in the last six months."

Jeremy sighed as he studied her. "I wish there was something I could do."

Abby shrugged. "There's nothing no one can do."

Jeremy stared at her a moment, then suddenly bent further forward and startled her by kissing her. Unlike past times that he'd kissed her, Abby immediately pushed him back and lunged to her feet.

"What are you doing? We agreed to be friends!" Abby said, wobbling a little from too many beers but she managed to keep herself from slurring. "I'm in a relationship, that, for once I'm happy with!"

Jeremy looked up at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, I just like you so damn much. I can't help it!" Jeremy wobbled to his feet. "I should go."

Abby sighed as he walked to the door. "Wait." She said as she put her hand to head. "Yer to drunk to drive. I'd let you sleep where Rick's been sleeping but after what you just did, I think the air mattress in the back room is best."

Jeremy looked at his boots. "Sorry."

Abby stumbled to the stairs. "I'll get you a blanket and pillow."

* * *

Bad Jeremy! Haha Abby must really like Daryl to resist her kryptonite! Thanks for reading!

-Shockra


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! Sorry I am so late! I'm having technical issues with my word program! Anyway, happy father's day to any father's out there! I hope your day has been good! Enjoy!

* * *

Abby sat on her new sofa that had been delivered earlier that morning. When Jeremy had gotten up, he had been kind enough to drive Carl to school on his way to work. Before he left, he'd apologized profusely for his behavior the night before, insisting on wanting to remain friends. Since he'd stopped almost immediately, Abby decide to forgive him but wondered if she should tell Daryl about the incident. At the same time, she was afraid that she if told him, he'd get mad at her for inviting Jeremy over in the first place and then track Jeremy down and beat the crap out of him.

She spent most of her day working on her house, finishing the painting of the upstairs and finishing the floors. When Carl got home, she put him to work cleaning out her paddock in case she found a horse she might want. Today was the last day that Carl was supposed to be staying with Abby but it was now, as she sat on her couch, well past midnight and his parents hadn't shown up to collect him. She had just started dialing Rick's number, suddenly concerned that something had happened to them since he'd text her this morning, when he suddenly burst through the door. He went to slam the door shut but quickly caught it, right after releasing it, then closed the door gently.

"It went that well, huh?" Abby said dryly from her spot on the sofa as she put her phone down.

Rick dropped a bag of clothing on the ground then walked over and dropped onto the sofa beside her. "Yeah. Nice couch, really comfortable too." He said as he rested his head back and rubbed his eyes. "I hope you don't mind, I'm probably staying here for a while, probably with Carl."

Abby frowned. "With Carl? I'm happy for you two to stay as long as you need but usually kids stay with their momma."

"Lori said she 'needs time to digest everything'." Rick said tiredly.

"What does that mean?" Abby asked frowning.

"Hell if I know, but she is pregnant." Rick growled.

Abby sat up suddenly. "What? Do you know if it's yours?"

Rick sighed. "I don't know and neither does she. Apparently, she was with both of us, sometimes on the same day."

"I can't believe her! At least Martin had the decency to ignore me." Abby growled.

"Can we talk about something else? What did you do all weekend?" Rick asked, caught somewhere in between sadness and anger.

"Well you know about the shopping trip on Saturday, hence the sofa you now sit on and other furniture. Then we went paintballing with Daryl on Sunday. The last couple of days we have just done work. On the house, the yard, school work, looked after the kittens, that sort of stuff." Abby answered as she tried to calm herself down.

"Good, you gave him chores. Lori spoils him too much. Do you have a second air mattress? Or is it going to be the couch for me?" He asked tiredly.

"Actually, I bought a couple of mattresses for the guest rooms. Still need two more but if I'm not careful my cash is going to run out." Abby answered as she got to her feet.

"You get your payout from Martin yet?" He asked as he grabbed her offered hand and pulled himself to his feet.

"Not until next month, don't quite get why but my lawyer said it's normal, so I guess I'll just have to wait." She said as they made their trip up the stairs.

She led him to the room with the mattress where he dropped his bag once more, then looked in on Carl while Abby grabbed some sheets and a thin blanket, all that she had left over. He helped her make the bed then plopped onto the bed.

"Sorry about the blanket, I'm still collecting stuff." Abby apologized.

"It's alright, baby girl, it's almost summer. I'll be warm enough. Now if you don't mind, I need to get some shut eye." Rick said with a yawn.

"Of course, good night." Abby turned and left, closing the door quietly behind her.

Abby went back downstairs to quickly clean up her book and the blanket she'd wrapped around herself as she read, then turned off all the light, locked the door and went back upstairs to her own room. She set the alarm on her phone to make sure she got up on time, apparently, she was having a hard time waking up on time the last couple of days, before going to bed herself.

111

That Friday, Daryl surprised Abby by showing up unannounced around two in the afternoon. She was in what was going to be her office, painting the walls when he walked in, crossbow slung across his back and a canvas bag in hand. He dropped the bag on the ground as he walked into the office.

"Surprised to see me?" He asked as he walked over and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Pleasantly, yeah. Thought you were super busy." She said happily as she held on to him.

"We were but we caught up. The boss gave us 'old guys' the rest of the day off while the young guys had to stay back." Daryl said with a grunt.

Abby pursed her lips. "You ain't old, that means I'm old."

Daryl chuckled. "I am older than you, I'm even a year older than Rick."

"Yer middle aged, not old. There's a difference." Abby complained. "You also have only been there a couple months, I'm surprised they'd let you go."

Daryl shrugged. "Boss likes my work, says I'm one of the best mechanics. I'm both quick and I do things right the first time."

"Sounds like I've found me my new mechanic." She said then kissed him again.

"You need something fixed?" He asked leaning into her.

"Been havin' troubles shifting gears over the last day." She said as she started playing with his hair. When she'd met him, his hair had been fairly short but he'd been letting it grow out and she could easily run her hands through it.

"Up, down or both?" He asked, straightening up but grabbing her hand, fingers intertwined as he led them outside to where her bike stood. On Wednesday, she'd brought back his truck and took back her bike, to Daryl's disappointment; he'd been enjoying driving her bike around.

"Both." She replied as she followed him.

"Gear box might be going. Did you ever replace it?"

"No, one of the few things that was in good condition when I bought it." Abby said as the stopped beside it.

Daryl let go of her hand then sat on her bike. He cycled through the gears frowning the whole time then looked up at her. "I'm gonna take it out for a drive. Mind getting the keys?"

Abby nodded and trotted back inside to grab her bike keys. She went out onto the porch and threw him the keys, then watched him fire it up, and drive it down the driveway. Once he'd disappeared, she went back inside heading for the office. She stopped, just inside the door and looked at the pile of things he'd left by the door; his crossbow and canvas bag. Abby bit her lip as she stared down at the bag, she was curious about what was in it. She suddenly had a strong urge to snoop but shoved the feeling down and went into the office.

When the door opened again, she was finished painting the walls and was inspecting the walls for any blemishes. When she looked towards the door, Daryl's grease covered hands was holding a part of her bike.

"Put your bike in yer garage and took it apart. Looks like I was right but I can rebuild it. You got parts but not what I need, so I'm gonna head into town. King county got a parts store, right?" Daryl asked as he walked up to her.

"Yeah but it ain't much, I don't know if they'll have what you want. Will it be cheaper to fix it than replace it?" Abby asked.

Daryl smiled. "With yer boyfriend doing it for you, yeah, definitely." He answered.

"Can I ask what's in the bag? I had this strong desire to snoop but didn't. Still can't help but wonder, though." She asked as she looked around him.

Daryl blushed slightly, smile still on his face as he raised his hand to touch her then looked at it and dropped it. "Spend so much time here, thought I should bring some stuff here. You know like a change of clothes and stuff. I hope that's alright."

"Of course, that's alright. Why the crossbow?"

"Thought I could do some hunting while I'm here. Don't ever have the time at home, figured I might as well leave it here. Basically, brought all my clothes, just left a pair of jeans and a couple shirts. I ain't expecting you to do my laundry or nothing." He suddenly added hurriedly.

Abby laughed, she'd been complaining to him about Rick getting her to do his and Carl's laundry and how she was constantly cleaning up after them. "That's fine if I do. You're my boyfriend, Rick's my older brother. It makes sense for me to take care of you but Rick should be doing that sort of shit himself, especially for his own son."

"Still don't expect you too. Anyways, I'm gonna head into town." Daryl bent over picking up his bag, apparently not caring if he got grease on them, then handed it too Abby. "Got some pictures in there too, figured you'd appreciate that. Be as nosy as you want, I don't care."

Abby took the bag, then touched his face as she kissed him. "Starting to trust me a little?"

Daryl looked down at his toes. "I guess I am. It's nothing personal. I have a hard time trusting everyone." Daryl mumbled.

"I know and I get it. What kind of pictures are they?" Abby asked as she rubbed her thumb against his neck, trying to soothe him.

"Some are of us...and you. Then there's a picture of my mom and I and one with Merle and I with this big buck we caught when I was younger." Daryl answered quietly.

"You go get what you need, I'll bring this upstairs and put yer crossbow in the gun cabinet."

Daryl nodded, kissed her on the lips, then strode outside. After the door had closed, Abby picked up the crossbow and slung it over her shoulder as she walked up the stairs. Once in her room, she put the crossbow down and dumped the contents of the bag onto the bed. She picked up each piece of clothing which had been haphazardly thrown into the bag, smelled it and either threw it into another pile or folded it nicely so she could put it away.

Once she'd put the clothing either away or in the hamper and his single good pair of shoes, she sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the small pile of photos that Daryl had carefully wrapped in a stiff piece of leather. The first picture was the two of them smiling as she took a picture with Daryl's phone, a close up with their heads together, the same one that was now the screen saver on his phone. The second one was also a close up of her sleeping, head turned away. The third one was one that a stranger had taken of them during their short moments actually walking the path in the woods. Daryl looked particularly happy in this picture, his smile broad as he held on to her as she placed her head on his shoulder.

The fourth one she was a little miffed with. She was almost completely nude, once again asleep, the blanket mostly piled on the floor with a corner of it covering her one leg. She was on her back, her naked body completely exposed to the camera with her head turned to where Daryl usually lay. The fifth picture sobered her up again, with a sad looking woman holding a young child who clung to her neck. It was slightly faded from age but Abby could still see the marks on the woman's neck and arm, while the little boy had a black eye. Abby looked at the little boy sadly, he was so young and small, five years old at most and yet that tiny face looked as if he had already seen it all. Abby touched the picture for moment, then moved on to the last picture. It was, as Daryl had said, of him and whom must've been his brother, kneeling down beside a huge buck. Daryl must've been in his early twenties, his hair even shorter than when she'd met him with a slight smirk, his crossbow against his shoulder while his brother Merle, held a rifle across his chest, arms crossed over top of the rifle, smiling at the camera.

Abby put the photo's back into the cover and put it in the drawer of the nightstand that stood on Daryl's side of bed. She collected the dirty clothing from her closet, then went downstairs to the back of the house, where her laundry room was located. It wasn't really a 'room' per se, just a washing machine and dryer in a half finished room. By the time she'd separated the clothing in piles and had put the first load in the machine, Daryl had walked through the door to let her know he was back before going back outside into the garage.

Eventually, Abby wandered outside to the garage where Daryl sat on an overturned bucket, apparently putting her bike back together.

"Sorry about this." She said as she touched the back of his neck. "You get off work early only to be put back to work."

Daryl shrugged. "I like working on bikes, I don't mind."

"I looked at those pictures. Next time you take naked pictures of me, let me know." Abby scolded swatting him gently on the back of the head.

Daryl smiled up at her sheepishly. "You looked so peaceful and happy."

"So, you don't pull that picture out frequently when, say yer having a bad day or just need to get it up?/" She asked dryly.

Daryl laughed, something he didn't seem to do much, despite seeming happy most of the time. "Didn't say that."

"Well you don't need to be sneaky to get naked pictures of me." She whispered into his ear.

As she stepped back, Daryl looked back at her eyes looking her up and down. He dropped the wrench in his hand, stood up, grabbed her hand and led her back to the house, then up the stairs into her room. Abby completely forgot about the grease on his hands as he started stripping the clothes off of her.

They were in the middle of a second climax as they heard the front door open and Carl shouting "Auntie! We're home!" Daryl cursed as he rolled off her and marched to the bathroom. Abby sat up as he went, quickly standing up to grab her clothing off of the floor but when she grabbed the first piece, there were clear hand prints on the hem of the shirt and over her chest. Abby looked back to her bed and there too found clear hand prints where Daryl had supported himself as thrusted into her.

After quickly dressing in clean clothes, Abby stripped off the bedding and marched down the stairs as Daryl showered. When she came down the steps, she saw Carl sitting on the couch, pulling out books from his backpack while Rick had his nose in the fridge.

"Don't even think 'bout snacking." Abby warned as she walked by. "I'll start supper once I get the next load in the washer and dryer."

"Did you get the clothes out of my room? Or Carl's?" Rick asked as he closed the fridge.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't yer mother." Abby said as she disappeared into the laundry room. Abby dumped the sheets into the huge sink and turned the water on then turned back to the machines and started transferring the clothing from the washer into the dryer.

"Daryl's here?" Rick asked as he appeared in the doorway and leaned against the door jam.

"Yeah, his boss let him off early today. He was working on my bike, but decided to take a shower." Which wasn't a lie, she just left a part out.

"Thought they were busy." Rick said suspiciously.

Abby shrugged. "They caught up."

Carl appeared beside his father. "Hey dad! There's a carnival nearby this weekend, can we go?"

Rick winced. "Sorry kiddo, I gotta work all weekend."

"Maybe Daryl and I can take you." Abby offered as she started putting her second load in. Rick frowned as she picked up one of Daryl's shirts but didn't say anything as she jammed it into the machine.

"Really?" Carl asked enthusiastically.

"You ask him when he comes down." Abby said smiling at him.

Carl grinned then turned and ran back into the living room. Rick sighed. "Thanks. You seem to be raising my son more than Lori and I put together."

Abby gave him the 'don't start with me' look. "I'm just the aunt who likes to spoil her nephew, you do the actual raising. You're a good father, Rick. Don't ever doubt that!"

"Thanks, sis." Rick said then looked over his shoulder. "He doesn't know yet, about Lori bein' pregnant…I don't know what to do about all of this. He's already asking about Lori and I, I don't know what to tell him."

"The only thing I can say is you and Lori should probably do it together. I know you are angry with her and you have every right to be but you two have try and work together. You have a son together, whether you get divorced or not, you'll always have that connection." Abby offered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're getting divorced. Saw Shane and her together the other day again." Rick said with a sigh as he rubbed his face. "Gonna stop by the lawyer's office on the way to work tomorrow."

Abby stepped forward and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I know how much this sucks."

"Thanks." He said returning the hug.

Abby stepped back. "I should get started on supper. Be nice to Daryl."

"I'm always nice to Daryl, remember I like Daryl." He said smirking slightly then turned a left the room.

Abby followed him into the kitchen and started making supper as Daryl came down the stairs. Carl instantly looked up and smiled at him.

"Daryl!" He said with enthusiasm.

Daryl paused on the last step, shocked by Carl's enthusiasm. "Hey." He said as he finally stepped off the last step.

Rick looked over at his son. "Wait to ask until after supper, okay son?"

Daryl looked at Abby then Rick confused as he walked over to the kitchen and sat down next to Rick who'd sat down on one of the barstools. As Abby made supper the two men exchanged stories of their day, then Daryl went into what was wrong with Abby's bike and the apparent fiasco he'd gone through in town to get the parts he needed to rebuild her clutch. By the time Abby had finished making supper, they were on their second beers and in full bromance mode. As she set the food on the table, Carl helped her set the table but Daryl and Rick just watched, too busy talking.

111

Abby and Daryl sat side by side on the bench of Daryl's truck with Carl on the end as they rumbled down the highway. Carl had been so happy when Daryl had agreed to go to the carnival, that he'd promised to help Daryl with anything he needed help with for the next month. Daryl just smiled at him and ruffled his hair as he went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.

When they got up the following morning, Carl stood by the door and waited for them to get ready, barely managing to stay patient as he waited. When they were finally ready to leave, Carl ran to Daryl's truck and climbed inside before Abby had finished locking the front door. Daryl held the driver's side door open for her so she could climb inside and move over just enough for him to get in then leaned against him as he pulled out of the driveway.

At first, she thought he was just being nice but as they pulled into the carnival parking lot, he seemed genuinely happy. Once Daryl had paid for their admission, Carl led them straight to a game that required you to throw a ball at a nicely stacked pile of pins. Carl tried first wanting to win the grand prize which was some super popular toy Abby had never heard of but when he only managed to knock down about half the pins, Daryl graciously offered to try. The first time, he managed to knock down all but two. Then, annoyed with his failure, he tried again and knocked them all down, making things right in his world once more and Carl super happy. Abby and Daryl walked hand in hand down the crowded aisle as Carl went from booth to booth, trying almost everything once.

"Thank you for doing this." Abby said as she put her head on his shoulder. "I know this probably isn't how you wanted to spend your Saturday."

"Ain't nothing wrong with a good Carnival. Besides he's a good kid, I don't mind spending time with him. Gives him something else to think about other than his folk's problems. And then there's you. I could watch paint dry and still be happy if you were with me." Daryl said.

Abby smiled at him, impressed that he hadn't blushed. Daryl was slowly getting better and more comfortable with communicating his feels to her. Probably realizing that she wanted him to tell her those things and she never judged or mocked him for feeling the way he did.

"Wanna go on the Ferris wheel?" Daryl asked. "That's what couples do when they go to a carnival, ain't it?"

Abby made him stop and turn towards her so she could wrap her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Sure." She breathed before kissing him again.

"You two are so gross." Carl said as he walked by, heading for the rides.

Abby let go of Daryl's neck and replaced it with his hand as they turned and followed after him. Carl wanted to go on a ride called the Zipper, so Abby made him promise to wait in a particular spot when he was done on his ride and wait for them. Thankfully the line for the Ferris wheel was blessedly short, most people opting for the more exciting rides. When they got on to the ride, Abby snuggled right up to Daryl as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"You make me feel like a teenager again." Abby said happily as she raised her head long enough to kiss him on the cheek.

"Same here, although can't say I can remember the last time I felt so happy. Doubt I ever was." He replied then kissed the top of her head.

Just as the Ferris wheel reached the top, Daryl's phone rang in his pocket. When he dug it out and looked at it, he cursed as he hit the decline button on his phone, angrily.

"Was that Merle?" Abby asked as Daryl rubbed his face.

"Yeah." Daryl growled.

"Next time he calls, answer it! If he wants you to pick up everything and leave, tell him no. Maybe, whatever it is he wants, is important." Abby suggested.

Daryl sighed. "I suppose."

Abby squeezed his knee with one hand and turned his face towards her with the other and kissed him passionately. When they finally pulled a back, Daryl's hands were on her hip and in her hair as they panted slightly, smiling at each other. "Forget him for now." She said licking her lips. "You're supposed to be havin' fun with me."

Daryl tilted her head towards him as he rested his forehead against hers. "I don't think they want us doin' that here."

Abby laughed as she slapped his arm hard. "That the only time you have fun?"

Daryl grinned. "Naw, but it's certainly a highlight."

When they stepped off the Ferris wheel, they found Carl waiting obediently in his designated spot, chatting up a young girl and her mom. Carl saw them walking over and waved at them sheepishly. The woman turned and smiled at them as they stopped.

"Hi, you must be Carl's mom." She said offering her hand.

Abby laughed. "No, I'm his aunt but I'll take that as a compliment. I'm Abby Grimes."

"It is! You two look so much a like!" The woman said.

"Yeah, he got a healthy does of Grimes in 'em. He's the mini me of his daddy. This man here is my boyfriend, Daryl Dixon." Abby said as Daryl nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't get yer name."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Carol Pelletier and this is my daughter Sophia. We're new to the area." She replied.

"Sophia is in my class. I told her 'bout the carnival." Carl said, still a little bashful.

Abby smiled at Sophia. "It's nice to meet you, Sophia. King county is an awesome place to grow up."

"You wouldn't happen to know of a job in King county, would you?" Carol asked, a little nervously. "It's just me and Sophia, so I need something to support us."

Abby thought about it for a moment. "Well…do you have any administrative skills? My brother might have a position available in the Sheriff's department."

"That's right, Carl said his father was the Sheriff. I don't have any work experience but I used to deal with all the finances for our family when I was with my husband." Carol replied.

"Well, I'll talk to him. Swing by the Sheriff's office after you drop Sophia off for school on Monday and he'll at least talk to you. Even if he can't hire you there, he knows pretty much everything that's goin' on in town." Abby said.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Carol said.

"Hey!" Sophia exclaimed excitedly as she pointed towards the crowd. "You can win a pony!"

Everyone looked in the direction she'd indicated and sure enough, there was a corral with, what actually a foal, trotting around. To one side, a target range was set up with people lined up, taking turns at trying to hit the target. Carl looked back at Daryl, wide eyed.

"Daryl, you have to try that! Auntie loves horses!" He said enthusiastically.

Daryl looked over at her then back at the competition. "Piece of cake." He said then strode off to join the line.

"They're shooting with crossbows." Carol said. "Does he know how to use one?"

Abby grinned. "Oh, yeah. He hunts with a crossbow."

The three of them moved to where the crowd had gathered to watch the contestants. Abby shoved her way to the front so Carl and Sophia could stand on the rail and watch while Abby and Carol stood beside them. They watched as contestants tried their hand at shooting, the object to win the prize was to hit a bullseye in two arrows. Most contestants couldn't even hit the target and those who did hit the target, only hit the outside edge.

When Daryl stepped up, he carefully selected his bolt, looking down the shaft to check for straightness, then put the bolt into its slot and raised the crossbow to aim. Abby watched him as he aimed, and saw what most people wouldn't see. He didn't just look at his target but watched the direction the leaves on the trees bent and adjusted his aim accordingly. When he fired, they bolt arced but Daryl watched with smug satisfaction as the bolt thumped into the center of the bullseye.

The crowd gasped and Ooed and awed as they clapped at Daryl's perfect first shot. The man in charged stared in disbelief then turned back to Daryl.

"If you can do that again, we'll transport the colt to yer house and include the tack." The man said as he offered Daryl his hand.

Daryl smirked again and shook the man's hand. "Yer on."

Daryl carefully selected another bolt, then took aim once more. After a brief pause, he fired and once more, the bolt thumped into the bullseye, although a little left from where he'd shot the first bolt. Once again, he got a round of applause and Carl whooped and cheered loudly as he jumped up and down.

"That was awesome!" Carl exclaimed.

Daryl spotted them in the crowd and waved them over to join him as he talked with the man who'd put the foal up to be won. When they reached them, the man offered her his hand.

"You must be Abby." He said. "I'm Hank. Daryl here, says yer very familiar with horses."

"Yup, come from a ranching family. Used to barrel race when I was a teenager." Abby said as Carl went over to the corral with Sophia and Carol as it trotted over to them and allowed them to pet it.

"Well, you just got a five thousand dollar horse for the price of admittance. I'd say you had a good day." Hank said.

"Five thousand? Fer real? It ain't even grown or trained yet." Daryl said in astonishment.

"He comes from good bloodlines. When he's grown, he could be worth more ten or fifteen." Hank said sadly.

"You obviously aren't thrilled with givin' him away, why you put him up?" Abby asked as she watched him.

"For charity. Half the profits from today, go to the local women's shelter, figured it was a good cause. My wife was married once before me, to a man who'd hurt her. She could not have gotten away from him if it wasn't for the help the shelter had given her and I wouldn't have the privilege of knowing her now." Hank explained. "It makes me feel a bit better knowin' that the colt is goin' to a home that knows what they're doin'."

Abby gave him her address and he promised to bring the colt to her house early the next morning along with the tack he'd promised her. Abby climbed over the fence of the corral, so she could get a closer inspection. The colt was obviously accustomed to being handled, as he nuzzled into her hand as she reached out. She ran her hands down the colts back and legs, checking his confirmation. When she was done she gave the colt a good pat and climbed back over the fence.

"You seem to know a lot about horses." Carol noted.

"Yeah I grew up with them." Abby said as she grabbed Daryl's hand.

"Can we come visit him?" Sophia asked shyly.

Abby smiled. "Absolutely. You can come visit him in the afternoon tomorrow, if you want. Carl and his daddy will likely be there too." Abby said rubbing Carl's head with her free hand.

They said good bye to Carol and Sophia then as the headed towards the parking lot. Abby was smiling and clinging to Daryl's arm as they walked to his truck, the sun beginning to set. Once they'd climbed in side Daryl's truck, Carl went on enthusiastically about the things they'd done, paying Daryl tons of compliments about his shooting.

As they drove down the highway, Abby saw a car pulled to the side of the road with its flashers on and a woman with a map spread out on the hood of her small compact car. Abby nudged Daryl in the side.

"Pull over, she looks lost." Abby said.

Daryl pulled up behind the car, leaving the truck running so the head lights could illuminate the road in front of them. Abby told Carl to stay in the truck as the two of them climbed out. Daryl stayed back and let Abby approach the woman, probably worried about frightening the woman, well aware of how people saw him.

"Hey there. You lost?" Abby asked as she walked up.

The woman sighed. "Yeah. I was heading for Atlanta but there was a bunch of construction so I thought I could navigate through the back roads but I've been going in circles for hours now and my son needs to sleep."

"Well I'm afraid it's another two hours to Atlanta from here." Abby informed the other woman regretfully.

"Are you kidding me?" The woman asked as ran her fingers through her dark dreads.

Abby looked back at Daryl then at the woman. "You know we don't live far from here. I got a big house, you could spend the night. That is if you don't mind sleeping on an air mattress and having to put up with me, Daryl, my brother and nephew."

The woman looked up at her shocked. "You'd do that for a stranger?" She asked as she studied Abby carefully.

"My family has always been the sort to help people. My daddy would always have some stranger in the house a couple times a year." Abby said smiling.

"Wasn't he worried about people hurting you and your brother?" She asked.

"Well that's what the shotgun is for, but he wouldn't let just anyone into the house. My grand daddy did that sort of thing too." Abby said smiling.

"Is that why you let me into yer house?" Daryl asked, smirking as he stepped closer to her only to get whacked.

"Ignore him, he's a smart ass." Abby mumbled as she whacked him again. "I'm Abby by the way, that's Daryl and in the truck, is my nephew, Carl."

"I'm Michonne and my son is Andre…he's three, I hope that's okay." Michonne said.

Abby laughed. "That's fine! C'mon, just follow us! We'll be there in ten minutes or so."

Michonne folded up her map and looked at Abby relieved. "Thank you!"

"No problem." Abby said smiling.

They went back to their truck and waited for Michonne to get settled, before pulling out and driving off.

"You gonna start the Abby Grimes charity, or something?" Daryl asked as he watched the following headlights in his rear view. "Two people in one day."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Helping people is a good thing, Daryl."

"I know, not sayin' it isn't. Just a new thing for me." Daryl said as he patted her leg.

"And it's not charity helping someone get a job, nor is giving someone a roof over their head for a night. Unless you consider yourself a charity case?" Abby asked smiling.

Carl laughed as Daryl pinched her leg. "I'm yer boyfriend, that's different."

They rolled to a stop in front of her house and Michonne's car stopped beside them. They all climbed out and Daryl was nice enough to help Michonne with her luggage as she carried her sleeping son in side. Daryl carried her luggage straight upstairs, followed by Carl, into the room she'd be sleeping in as Michonne gently set her son down on the couch.

"Thank you again." Michonne said quietly.

"No problem. You hungry? We haven't had supper and Rick'll be wanting to eat too." Abby said as she went to the kitchen and started rummaging around as quietly as possible.

"You don't have to do that." She said as she came over to the kitchen.

"I don't mind, I enjoy cookin'." Abby said.

"Well the least I can do is help." Michonne said as took the skillet and set it on the stove.

By the time supper had been finished, Daryl had inflated the air mattress and made the bed. As they all sat down around the table, Rick walked through the door, looking exhausted.

"Dad!" Carl said happily as he ran up to Rick and hugged him, then guided him too the table.

"Looks like you have guests." Rick said nodding his head to Michonne, then offered his hand. "Rick Grimes."

"Michonne and this is Andre." She said indicating her son sitting in her lap, then shaking his hand. "Your sister was so gracious to offer us a place to sleep for the night."

"Atta girl." Rick said as he came around the table and kissed his sister on top of the head and slapped Daryl on the back before sitting himself down.

"Abby was saying it's a bit of a tradition, taking in strangers." Michonne said smiling.

Rick laughed. "Yeah, it basically is. Where you headin'?" Rick asked.

"I was planning on going to Atlanta to find a job. I was livin' in Athens but things weren't turning out there." Michonne said.

"Oh? What do you do?" Abby asked.

"I'm a lawyer." She answered as she helped Andre spoon up some potatoes. "What do you all do? It's obviously what Sheriff Grimes does."

"Please, just Rick when I'm off duty." Rick interjected.

"Okay, Rick. What do you two do?" Michonne continued to ask.

"I'm a mechanic." Daryl answered. "Work in the neighboring town."

"And I presently do nothing." Abby answered with a smirk. "I was in the Marine corps not long ago though, retired now."

"Well aren't you two a couple of civil servants." Michonne said smirking.

Abby and Rick laughed. The rest of the evening went by easily, the conversation flowing naturally, Michonne was an easy person to get along with. When everyone was ready for bed, Abby showed Michonne where the towels were and made sure she was settled before joining Daryl in their room.

"Well today was a good day." Abby said as she shimmied out of her shorts. "You even got me a horse!"

Daryl came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissed neck. "It was a good day. I had fun, even liked some of those games Carl wanted me to do."

"You'd be a good dad, you know that." She said as she leaned back against him.

"You want kids pretty bad, don't you?" He asked as he rubbed his bearded chin against her neck.

"Yes. Especially now that I'm with you." She said as she turned to face him.

"Do you wanna try? To have one, I mean." Daryl asked somberly, very serious.

"Really? You want to have a baby with me?" She asked shocked

"Before I met you, I thought I die miserable and alone. No woman to love me let alone kids of my own but knowing you, getting to know yer family, seein' you with Carl, it's made me realize that I want it all. To marry you, to have kids, to have a good home. Give our kid the life I never got. Give it the love, I never got." Daryl said.

"You wanna marry me?" Abby asked, tears starting to form.

Daryl suddenly let go of her, grabbed his truck keys and ran out of the door, then down the stairs and through the front. Abby stared in shock, uncertain what was happening but he returned only a few minutes later with a box in hand. He knelt down before and opened the box, revealing a surprisingly expensive looking ring.

"Abigail Grimes, will you marry me?" He asked as he held up the box.

Abby put her hand to her mouth as she nodded her head. Daryl smiled as he got back to his feet, pulled the ring out of the box, grabbed her hand and slid it on to her finger, a perfect fit. Abby looked at the ring, momentarily then threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

* * *

Sorry if there was some weird mistakes, i proofed this on my phone. So now Carol, Sophia and Michonne are in the picture and Daryl popped the question! Busy day!

-Shockra


	10. Chapter 10

Hey! So I finally got my Word to work! Yay! It took like a day to actually get it done but I was so happy when I finally got it working! So this chapter gets a little depressing by the end and the beginning of the next one will be as well. You have been warned! Don't worry, I like happy endings. Who needs "realistic" ending's that end sadly, isn't that what life's for? ...not that all life is depressing. I just sounded super emo, I'm actually a happy person, I swear. Haha, anyways enjoy.

* * *

The next morning, Abby was up bright and early to prepare the paddock for its new resident. Beyond the roof the paddock was in reasonable good condition, having been made within the last twenty years and solidly made. She hadn't been able to find a good bale of hay in such short notice but her neighbor's had kindly given her a bag of feed and a horse blanket that'd fit her new little Colt.

While she cleaned up the paddock, Daryl and Rick made sure the corral and nearby pasture had solid fences, so the little guy wouldn't get out. Carl sat on the fence and watched the driveway with a kitten in his lap and shouted excitedly when he saw a truck turn down her driveway.

Abby smiled as the truck rumbled to a stop in front of the paddock and Hank, along with the woman Abby could only assume was his wife, climbed out of their vehicle.

Abby offered her hand to the woman when they approached her. "Abby Grimes, pleasure to meet you."

The woman smiled brightly as she took her hand and shook it heartily. "Sandra, pleasure is all mine. Nice property you got, here!"

"Thank you! It's the family homestead and has been in the family for over two hundred years! That there is my brother." She said indicating Rick as he emerged from behind the paddock followed by Daryl. "And that's my fiancé, Daryl, behind him."

Everyone shook hands, then they all walked to the back of the small two horse trailer. Hank opened up the door to reveal the beautiful dun colt she'd seen at the carnival, bringing a huge smile to her face. Hank stepped up into the trailer, untied the little guy from the trailer than backed him up, out of the trailer. The poor little seemed so scared as Hank passed her the lead rope.

"Brought the other stuff too." Hank said as went to the side compartment and pulled out a half decent saddle and new bridle, handed it to Rick, who'd followed him, then pulled out a bag of feed.

"I got his papers here." Sandra said as she dug into her purse.

Once everything was done, Abby offered the couple breakfast or at least a cup of coffee but they were in a hurry, so they declined and continued on their day. When all four of them went inside to have breakfast, they found Michonne in the kitchen making pancakes as Andre played on the ground next to her.

"I hope you don't mind." She said to Abby as they walked to the kitchen "you were all working busily outside and I figured I owed you for letting me spend the night...I really appreciate it."

Abby shook her head but smiled. "Thank you. That's really sweet but you didn't have to do that!"

111

Abby smiled as she watched Carl, Sophia and little Andre play with her new horse. The kids feeding him in the stall seemed to calm the poor guy down and now chased the kids around the corral. Abby had also brought out her box of kittens, now old enough to start their own adventures. Michonne had opted to stay for at least another night and presently visited with Carol as they watched the kids as they sat beside her. Rick had to go into work early, due to some emergency while Daryl worked on her bike some more.

This wasn't how she'd imagined her life when she was younger, she had tried so hard to get away from it but now, she couldn't be happier. For the first time in a long time, she looked forward to her future and she was pretty sure with her renewed optimistic view, it had pushed her nightmares to all but disappear. She had still been having them right up until a couple weeks ago and pretty much never had them when Daryl was with her, probably because he made her feel safe.

The loud rumble of her bike drew her attention to the garage, as Daryl rode out of it and over to where Abby and the other ladies stood. He rolled to a stop beside her and let it idle.

"Gonna take it out, make sure everything is okay." He shouted over the engine noise, then took off when she nodded.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's the sort who drives motorcycles." Michonne commented as she watched him drive off.

"No…I mean he does ride, but that's mine." Abby said then smirked as both women looked at her with shocked expression. Abby shrugged, "I was a very rebellious child. I discovered motorcycles when I was sixteen and I haven't looked back."

"Aren't those things really dangerous?" Carol asked.

"Well, yes and no. If you know what yer doin' it ain't so bad but people don't always see the person on a motorcycle. With an engine like that one, they should at least hear me coming." Abby chuckled.

"You're full of surprises." Michonne said quirking an eyebrow. "Your brother doesn't seem the type to appreciate you driving one of those things."

"He's not but he lost that battle over ten years ago and with a…fiancée with the same interests, he won't be making anymore head way then he did back then." Abby said smirking.

"Well yer a lot braver than me." Michonne replied.

When Daryl came back, Abby offered everyone lunch. It wasn't extravagant, just sandwiches, vegetables and juice but on a nice day like today, it was all one needed. The day passed by remarkably fast and by the time Rick had rolled up that evening, all but Daryl and Abby had either left or gone to bed. When she saw Rick's headlights sweep across the window, Abby had gotten to her feet and put Rick's now cold supper in the microwave. When Rick stepped inside, he looked like a thunder cloud as he angrily ripped off his Sheriff jacket.

Abby frowned as she watched him from the kitchen. "Dare I ask?"

"Best not." He growled as he marched to the fridge and pulled out a beer and started chugging it.

"Well your supper is heating in the microwave, spaghetti and meatballs." She said as she patted him on the shoulder.

When she turned to walk back to the couch, he stopped her momentarily to kiss her on the cheek. "Thanks, baby girl."

Abby looked at him funny, he almost never called her that. She returned to the couch and curled up next to Daryl and resumed reading her book. Eventually Rick sat heavily on the loveseat across from them, supper and a second beer in hand.

"I hope both of yer days were better than mine." Rick said as he twirled his fork in his spaghetti.

"It was a good day. Played with animals, did some house work, Daryl finished fixing my bike, that sort of thing." Abby said putting her book down once more.

"Carl wasn't a problem, was he?" Rick asked after he washed his food down with a sip of his beer.

"Nope. He was a peach. He kept busy with his friend for most of the afternoon."

"His friend?" Rick asked as he looked off to the side, trying to recall Carl mentioning a friend.

"Yeah. A new one. Sophia." Abby said smirking as she studied him.

"Sophia? A _girl_?" He asked shocked.

"Yup, Sophia Pelletier. Her and her momma, Carol, are new in town."

Daryl finally put down the car manual he'd been reading. "You haven't told him 'bout her yet?"

Abby suddenly straightened up as she remembered her promise. "Oh shit! Right! Are you looking for any one at the Sheriff's office? I told Carol to talk to you tomorrow. I told her that if you didn't have a job there, you might know where to look."

Rick thought about it a moment. "Maybe she could help Sandy out. What does her husband do?"

"From what she said, she's divorced. Trying to make ends meet for her and her daughter." Abby replied. "Seemed like a really nice woman, though a little timid."

"I'll talk to her, see if she'd be able to do anything for the department. Saw Michonne's car out front, spent another night?"

"Yeah, she doesn't have an apartment lined up yet so she's gonna try to find one tomorrow." Abby said as she stretched.

"Job huntin' and house huntin'? She must've just dropped everything and left. Has she said why?" Rick asked, more concerned than suspicious.

"She said something about breaking up with her boyfriend, maybe it was a bad relationship? I don't know." Abby said as she sat forward, getting ready to stand up but stopping when she looked into his face.

"Speaking of bad relationship's, Lori called me today. She suddenly wants full custody of Carl." Rick glared at his now empty plate. "Says that it's Shane's kid she's carrying and he's gonna move in with her. Wants her 'family' together."

"That's bullshit! She can't do that!" Abby said angrily.

"Well she's gonna try." Rick mumbled, then rubbed his face tiredly. "Anyways, I need to get some shut eye…if I can."

"Wish I could do something to set yer mind at ease. No matter what, you got me in your corner." Abby said sincerely.

"I know and I appreciate that." Rick stood up and smiled at her tightly. "Carl's gonna stay with his momma for the week, so you'll have one less person to cramp yer style."

Abby glared at him. "You know I don't mind you two being here."

Rick chuckled. "I know. Still, I should try and find my own place."

"You should wait 'til you got things sorted out with Lori. The lawyers and shit cost a lot of money." Abby suggested.

Rick sighed as he put one foot up on the first step. "Maybe you're right. Anyways, goodnight you two."

They watched Rick walk up the stairs then settled back into the couch. After a moment of silence, Daryl patted her thigh. "Don't mean to sound like an old man, but I gotta work in the morning, we should hit the hay."

Abby touched the side of his face. "Okay." She said with a smile then kissed him before standing up and held out her hand.

111

The next morning, Abby groaned as she felt the mattress shift as Daryl rolled out of bed. She cracked an eye open to see Daryl walking to the closet and start pulling out some more clothing. She smirked as she watched him pull off the sweats he slept in, then pulled on his work jeans and an old shirt. When he turned back around, he smirked as he saw her watching him.

"Mornin' beautiful." He said as he walked over to her and climbed on top of her. "Enjoying yer morning show?" He asked as he pushed her messy hair out of her face.

"Uh huh." She said happily. "Sorry that I didn't wake up sooner, make you breakfast."

Daryl bent down and kissed her. "I only eat breakfast when I'm here anyways, don't worry 'bout it." He kissed her again, then climbed out of bed. "Better get goin', don't wanna be late."

Abby made a pouty face. "Okay. Bye babe, love you!"

Daryl stopped at the door and looked back at her. "Love you to."

Daryl turned and left, closing the door quietly as he left. Abby sighed as she laid there, staring at the door. Something about that door closing, felt final, like he wasn't going to step through it again. Abby reached for her phone and fired off a text at Daryl:

 _Drive safe and be careful!_

Daryl's reply was quick, probably having just sat down in his truck.

Daryl _: Yup. Always am._

 _Can you come back tonight? I miss you already._

Daryl: _Was planning on it anyways, gotta go. Text you at lunch._

 _Okay, sorry. Love you._

Daryl: _Love you more!_

Abby sighed as she looked at her phone, she was probably being ridiculous, he was going to be fine. Abby finally rolled out of bed and walked to the shower, she needed to get herself busy, keep her mind off of that nagging feeling she had. Once done her shower, she went downstairs to make breakfast for Rick and Carl who'd yet to wake up. She was a little shocked to see Michonne already in the kitchen, starting to work on making breakfast with Andre playing on the ground once.

"You're up early." Abby commented as she walked into the kitchen and started helping.

"I should get an early start. You wouldn't happen to know where I can get a job or an apartment?" Michonne asked smiling.

"I don't know about apartments but I'm sure Rick needs a divorce lawyer." Abby said, then winced. A complete stranger didn't need to know their family problems.

Michonne smiled softly as she cracked an egg into the pan. "I over heard you last night. It's a shame the way things are going for him, he seems like a good man."

"He really is. He's way better of a person than I'll ever be." Abby said as she started whisking the batter for the pancakes.

"I'm not a divorce lawyer but I'll happily give him some advice." Michonne offered as she worked. "I won't even charge him!"

Both women chuckled before settling into a comfortable silence as they continued cooking. By the time they'd finished, both Rick and Carl had wandered into the kitchen, the former, looking dead on his feet but wanting to do his fatherly duty. Rick and Carl left first, followed shortly by Michonne and her son but not before the two women exchanged numbers, promising to stay in touch.

By the time lunch had rolled around, Abby was starting to get a serious case of cabin fever. No matter what she tried to distract herself with from her worry, it never worked long and when Daryl finally did text her, it did little to alleviate her worry. Her messages must've sounded as worried as she felt, or out of character for her because Daryl finally called with only ten minutes left of his break.

"Everything alright?" Daryl asked when she picked up.

"I'm fine, it's just been a weird morning." Abby answered trying to sound optimistic.

"Weird how?" Daryl asked, not fooled for a second.

"You're gonna laugh at me!" Abby complained. Apart of her wanted to tell him what she was feeling, so he'd tell her she was being ridiculous and everything was fine but she didn't want him to think she was nuts or being overbearing.

"I won't, just tell me already." Daryl said starting to sound annoyed.

"It's just…" Abby sighed. "I don't know. Ever since this morning, I've had this foreboding feeling, like something is gonna go wrong."

"Wrong how?" Daryl asked, not sounding at all skeptical.

"I don't know…just wrong. It instantly made me worry that you might get hurt or something but maybe it's not you. Maybe it's Rick or Carl or even some one else…I sound moronic, don't I?"

"Babe, you don't sound moronic. You wouldn't be the first person to have a bad feeling and have it come true." Daryl said now trying to sound soothing. "I'll be extra careful, so don't worry 'bout me, okay?"

Abby sighed. "Okay, I'll try not to. Are you still coming over?"

"Yeah about that." Daryl said suddenly sounding nervous. "I was thinkin' I spend most of my time there anyway and my lease is 'bout to run out, so why don't I just move in…completely?"

Abby smiled as she stared out at the landscape of her ranch. It amused her that he was still nervous about asking her those type of questions, they were getting married after all.

"Of course, you can! Most of your stuff is here anyways." Abby said, this time genuinely happy.

"Okay…well I gotta go. See you at supper." Daryl said before hanging up, he probably felt embarrassed and he really didn't like embarrassing himself, so he ended the conversation quickly to save himself more embarrassment.

111

Abby patted her new colt as she stared off towards the driveway. She'd decided to work with him during the afternoon, mostly to occupy herself but he also needed to start training at a young age. He'd be more susceptible to being trained to ride when he's older if he'd been trained to accept his feet being worked and overall just handled.

Now that the evening had rolled around, she was considering going inside to start working on supper but once again, that nagging feeling that something was wrong, was gnawing at her. Abby grabbed the colt's halter and lead him back to his stall, where he'd stay for the next couple weeks, until he got used to being alone. Abby had just put him in his stall, when her phone rang in her back pocket. She pulled the phone out and frowned when she didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" Abby answered as she started walking out of the paddock.

"Is this Abby Grimes?" A strange voice asked, instantly making Abby's stomach drop.

"Yes, it is." Abby said, managing to sound normal as she quickened her pace, heading for the house.

"Hi, this is Gary…Daryl's boss, you might remember me?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, I remember. Is everything alright?" Abby asked as she squashed down her anxiety

"I'm not so sure. Daryl got a text a few minutes ago from his brother, and he just came up to me, said he had to leave, that he was quitting. Left an envelope here for you. Then these big, nasty lookin' fellows came in, lookin' for Daryl. I told them he quit and left a week ago, now they're just parked outside…I think they're waiting for him."

Abby started running for her bike. "I'll be right there." She replied, then hung up.

She slid to a stop halfway between the house and the garage, looking between the two buildings. Finally, she decided to run to the house and into the now finished office were the gun cabinet was now located. She unlocked it and pulled out her pistol, made sure it was loaded then stuffed it into her belt before running back outside to her bike.

She climbed onto the back of her bike, fired it up then spit up gravel as she turned her bike and took off down the driveway. Abby did almost twice the legal speed limit, all the way to Haral and didn't slow down until she came to a stop in front of the garage. In the parking lot, two men on the back of motorcycles sat there looking around, like they were looking for trouble. Abby got off her bike and got a whistle from both men as she walked by, towards the garage, to which she responded with giving them the finger.

The door opened as she approached, and she walked over to the owner, Gary and the two women who worked the front area, staring worriedly outside. Gary walked around the counter then came back to her and handed her the envelope.

"Do you know what this is 'bout?" Gary asked indicating the men in the parking lot.

"My guess, it has something to do with Merle, Daryl's brother. Tends to get into trouble, Daryl usually has to bail him outta it." Abby said glowering at them.

"D-do you think you can get rid of them? You were a Marine, right? You can handle two big men, they'll keep customers away." Gary requested.

"I'll talk to 'em but they'll get lippy and probably resort to aggression. Do I have your permission to kick a little ass if I need to?" Abby asked as she looked out of the window at them.

"I don't think that's a good idea." One of the women said, from her appearance, Abby would say was probably Linda.

"I don't want you to get hurt, I just want them gone." Gary said wincing.

Abby shrugged. "I shouldn't have too much problem with them, I'll be fine."

Gary sighed. "Fine, you have my permission but I'm gonna pre-dial the sheriff's office in case things get outta hand."

"Probably a good idea." Abby said agreeing.

Finally, Abby walked out of the door then across the small parking lot, up to the two men on their bikes. They turned their heads to stare at her when she was half way there and smiled as she stopped in front of them.

"Hey baby, lookin' for a ride?" The older of the two asked.

"No but I was wondering if you gentlemen needed something. Apparently, you've been parked out here for some time and it's makin' the town uncomfortable." Abby said trying to sound patient, and emulate her brother as best she could, the typical military standoffishness wouldn't work in this circumstance.

"You the local law enforcement or something? You don't look like you could handle a job like that, even in a town this size." The second man said smirking as he oogled her, his eyes stopping on her chest.

"I ain't the law, I used to do somethin' much more dangerous. Anyways, I have permission to remove you fine gentlemen, from this property however I see fit. See, yer unwelcome here and I've given you fair warning and I will say it again; please leave. So unless you want something broken, I suggest you go." Abby said, her patience quickly wearing thin, she didn't appreciate their deprecating behavior.

Both men laughed loudly as they finally got off of their bikes. Each man had a good hundred pounds on her, but she wasn't worried, they weren't all that tall and a good ten to fifteen years older than her. The older man bent forward and leered at her.

"Make us, princess." He said, his voice low and threatening.

Abby sighed dramatically, then smiled wickedly. "I warned you."

She quickly reached up and grabbed the older man's bald head and shoved it down as her knee came up. He was so shocked that his nose smashed full force into her knee, sending him reeling back as blood gushed out onto his moustache and beard. The second man stared dumbly at his friend, apparently not understanding what was happening and by the time he started to move, Abby was kicking his legs out from under him, then viscously stomped on his groin. The man's scream was unnaturally high pitched as Abby heard a click behind her and whipped around as she pulled her pistol from her belt and pointed it at the older man. The man looked at her, shocked as blood continued to pour out of his nose, probably not expecting her to be armed. The shock was short lived as his expression darkened to malice.

"You ain't going to shoot me, princess." The man growled as his friend continued to roll on the ground.

"No? How you figure? You didn't figure I could handle you two, but you've got a broken nose and he's not likely to be having any children." The man just stared at her venomously. "Why so determined to stay here anyways? You have to be waitin' for something."

The man's eyes flicked down to his friend on the ground, betraying his intentions. "More like a someone, he used to work here and live here but the old man said he quit a week ago."

Abby stepped back and quickly turned her gun on the man who now stood behind her and shot him in the leg. The man let out another shrill scream as he hit the dirt. Abby didn't see him fall as she quickly turned back to the other man.

"If he ain't here why are you still here?" Abby asked like she hadn't just shot his friend.

The man looked at his friend shocked then looked at her, she knew that her face was likely terrifying, her intent was lethal if she needed it to be. Wisely, he lowered his gun and set it on the ground.

"We think the old man's lying." The man answered, his face was neutral, but she could see the terror in his eyes.

"Even if he was, what makes you think the man yer lookin' for is still around? You obviously mean him harm; don't you think he's left by now?"

"My brother will be on the lookout for him, we know what he drives." The man answered, now too scared to lie.

"Why you want him so bad? Is one man worth so much trouble?" Abby asked, she didn't want him to realize that she had a connection to Daryl, but she needed to know what was going on.

"He didn't do nothing, his brother did. We've chased him all over Georgia, but he keeps slipping away. The Dixon boys are close, so we figured hurting his baby brother would be just as good, maybe even lure him to us." The man suddenly looked at her suspiciously. "Why do you care?"

"I care what kind of trouble you'll be making. Word of wisdom, steer clear of this place or anything near King county. I'm a good shot, and if you're anywhere near here you'll be dead an' you wouldn't even see it comin'." Abby said, her face darkening further. "Now you and her friend get outta here before I shoot you too." The man bent over for his gun. "Na, na, you leave that right there."

The man glared at her as he carefully walked over to his friend, helped him onto his friend's bike then climb onto the back of his own. Together they fired up their motorcycles and drove off for the end of town. As they drove off, Gary appeared beside her as she shoved her pistol back into her belt.

"Thank you, I was just about to call the sheriff, but those guys looked ready to piss themselves." Gary said to her.

Abby grunted. "Those assholes are just a couple of wannabes, never met someone who's actually killed before and could do it again. My daddy always told to never point a gun at someone unless you intend to use it."

"I won't tell the sheriff that you shot someone but I'm gonna have to report this incident. They need to know 'bout those guys." Gary said as they both continued to watch the road.

Abby shrugged. "Don't care if you tell 'em, it was self-defence, all of it but you might want to tell 'em there's four of 'em, at least and give 'em that pistol."

"Four? They tell you that?" Gary asked.

"They did. I'm sure yer aware but my brother is the Sheriff and when he hears it was me, he'll be calling me. So tell him I'm on my bike tryin' to find Daryl, I'll stop by the station as soon as I can."

"Sure. But are you sure it's a good idea to be going after him? I mean, those people are hunting him!" Looked over at her worriedly.

"That's _why_ I have to go after him! Daryl's gonna get as far away from here as he can to protect me but I ain't gonna let him. Now which way did he go?"

Gary pointed south. "Be careful, he couldn't live with himself if something happened to you."

Abby nodded then turned back to her bike and climbed on. "Thanks...and thanks for calling me."

His reply was drowned out by the road of her engine, but he nodded his head as she turned her bike around and drove off in the direction he'd indicated. Abby tried to think of where Daryl would go, but he'd wandered so much that he didn't have any real roots or at least none that he had ever told her of. So, her best guess was that he'd keep to the back roads. After an hour of driving the back roads, Abby finally pulled over and pulled out her phone, on the screen it displayed six missed calls and three text messages, all from Rick. Ignoring the notifications, Abby dialed Daryl's number and let it ring until it went to his voice mail. After her third try, she finally decided to leave him a message and hope he got it.

"Daryl, pick up your damn phone! Whatever Merle's got you into, let me help! I _can_ help you! Baby, _please_! Call me." Abby pleaded before hanging up.

With a sad sigh, Abby pulled out the letter Gary had handed her and opened it up. The hand writing was hurried but it was obviously Daryl's writing. The letter read:

 _Abby,_

 _I'm sorry I had to leave without saying good bye. I guess that feeling you've had all day was right, something  
bad did happen. I don't wanna leave you, but I have to. Merle's got himself into some serious shit and now  
they're coming after me. I can't let it affect you too, I'm sorry. I love you and I probably always will. I can't  
go home and I won't be coming back. Please just forget me, you deserve better anyways._

 _-D_

Abby wiped the tear from her eye, he couldn't do this to her! She needed him! She couldn't just forget him! Abby jammed the letter back into her pocket then fired up her bike. She turned bike for King county and drove off. By the time she rolled to a stop in front of the Sheriff's department, the sun began to set as a cool breeze tossed her hair around as she hung her helmet from her handle bar.

The second she stepped into the building, Rick was immediately called her name, gesturing unhappily to his office. With a sigh, Abby walked around the front desk and into the back area where all the desks sat. Only Jeremy and three other deputies remained, the rest having gone home for the day. Thankfully Shane was one of them, she couldn't deal with him right now. Abby walked into Rick's office then sank into one of the chairs as Rick closed the door, then leaned against his desk in front of her. He stared at her for a moment, at first tense and angry, then softened as he took in her depressed mood.

"Mind telling what the hell happened this afternoon?" Rick finally asked.

"I was just 'bout to make supper when I got a call from Daryl's boss, askin' me to come to the garage. He said that Daryl had gotten a text from his brother which in and of itself is unusual, then he just up and quit. Said he had to leave, left me this letter." Abby handed Rick the letter and Rick unfolded it as she continued. "Gary said that just after Daryl left, two guys rolled up to the garage looking for trouble, looking for Daryl. He told them that Daryl quit a week ago, but they didn't believe him and waited outside. When I came by, they were still there. Gary asked to get rid of them…so I did."

"You'll have to be more specific, Abigail, this is now official investigation." Rick said somberly.

Abby sighed. "I went outside, asked them nicely to leave, twice, told them they were upsetting the townspeople. They got off their bikes, started threatening me, told 'em if they didn't back off, I'd break something. They didn't, so I broke his nose then his buddy tried to grab me, so I kicked his legs out from him then stomped on his nuts. That's when his buddy pulled a pistol on me, so I pulled mine."

Rick walked behind his desk, then picked up a box then opened it and showed her the contents. "This the gun?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. I told him to back off, his buddy tried to grab me again, so I shot him in the leg. They finally realized that I wasn't gonna back down, that I _would_ shoot him if he tried anything, so he put his gun down. I questioned him a little then sent him and his buddy on their way."

"According to this letter, his brother did something? Did they tell you what?" Rick asked as he now sat in the other chair beside her. He'd gotten his official statement, now he was being a concerned big brother.

Abby shook her head. "No. Just that Merle had done something, and they'd been hunting him. They got frustrated tryin' to find him, so they decided to go after Daryl…they sounded like they knew both of them. Said they knew what Daryl drove, that the one guys brother, was searching the countryside for him…" Abby suddenly teared up and looked down, trying to hide them.

"I'm sorry, Abigail, this can't be easy on you. You obviously haven't found him." Rick said as he rubbed her shoulder.

Abby shook her head. "No and he won't answer my calls…" Abby's breathing started catching, but she was determined to not breakdown, but it was difficult with Rick being so comforting.

"Well, no ones come forward to press charges yet and I doubt they will. I had Jeremy look at the case since yer involved and he agreed, it was self-defence." Rick said gently. "I have them on high alert, looking for trouble. If those bastards show up, we'll find them."

Rick wrapped his arms around her which was her undoing, as she finally broke down, turning her face to his shoulder and let the tears flow. When she finally calmed down, she sat back once more as Rick got to his feet and offered her his hand. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

* * *

So sad but like I said, I like happy endings!

-Shockra


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! I know, I'm WAY early but I'm going to be away from the civilized world for the weekend, so I thought I'd just publish my next chapters for this and The Art of Deception. Originally I had planned on this being the last chapter but it felt a little...unfinished. So there is one more chapter, one that hopefully ties up the loose ends. There'll potentially be one shots for both this story and my trilogies but who know when that'll be. Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

Abby stared morosely at the pasture as she watched her colt, which Carl had named Trigger, as he grazed peacefully. It had been a month since Daryl had left without a trace, all she had of him now, was his clothes in her closet, his project motorcycle, the photos he'd left behind and his crossbow in her gun cabinet. She'd tried calling him and texting him but he wasn't responding to nothing. Rick had kept his ear to the ground for her, trying to find out his fate but nothing came to light and it was eating Abby a live.

Rick had reluctantly moved out of her house, with the divorce finalized and on Abby's insistence but he was around most days, coming to check on her. In the first couple weeks, she hadn't handled Daryl's disappearance too well, barely leaving the farm and crying herself to sleep most nights. To make it worse, she was having her nightmares again, which together with Daryl's absence, had set her in a deep depression.

Abby was suddenly broken from depressed thoughts as she pitched forward and vomited onto the grass by the fence. The last couple weeks had rough, from a physical sense, as she constantly felt nauseated and kept on vomiting. Today, she was supposed to go to the doctor and get herself checked out, see if something was physically wrong with her or if her mind was sickening her body.

With a sigh, she straightened up once more and went to the house to brush her teeth. When she was done, she grabbed her leather jacket and helmet and headed to town, as it was nearly time for her appointment. After a long wait in the doctors waiting room, Abby was finally seen by the doctor. The felt around her abdomen, checked her blood pressure and did several other tests before finally drawing her blood. Abby waited in the waiting room once more for another several hours, before she was called back into the doctor's exam room.

"Miss Grimes', I'm happy to tell you, you are not sick but are in fact, pregnant." The doctor said smiling at her.

Abby stared at him shocked, not entirely comprehending what he'd just said. After a couple hard blinks, Abby finally found her voice again. "Pregnant? How far a long?"

"Nine weeks." He said smiling. "It's a wonder you haven't noticed sooner, you're fortunate. Some woman experience symptoms much sooner."

" _Nine_?" Abby asked. They had just barely started trying for a baby six weeks ago, but then again, they hadn't been spot on in the protection department.

"Yes, were you not trying to have a baby? You seemed quite shocked." The doctor said looking at her sympathetically.

"Well, we were trying but that was a more recent thing." Abby said with a sigh, the gravity of her situation finally setting in. "Explains all the crying, I'm not normally prone to cry…'bout anything."

The doctor chuckled. "Yeah, pregnant women do that. I'm going to give you a list of doctors, I suggest you find one immediately and get a proper check up done, get an ultrasound."

"Right." Abby replied as she tried to keep herself calm.

The doctor gave her the list and a stack of general information to read before sending her on her way. When Abby left the building, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened up her contacts list, scrolled to Daryl's name, then stared at it for several long moments. She wanted to text Daryl, tell him the news but she wasn't even sure he still had the number she had in her phone, he probably had her on his ignore list…but he deserved to know. With a sigh, Abby finally tapped on the text option and typed out a message.

 _I don't know if you still have this number or not, you haven't responded to my calls or texts but you  
need to know. I'm pregnant, Daryl, we're having a baby. Please, just talk to me! I don't want to  
do this without you._

She angrily stuffed her phone back into her pocket as tears threatened to fall, then jammed her helmet on her head and drove straight to Rick's small single level house. Abby frowned as she pulled into the driveway, a somewhat familiar car was parked there but she couldn't place whose it was. Abby climbed off of her bike and walked up to the door. Normally she'd just walk in, like he did at her house but he apparently had a visitor, so she knocked. The door opened quickly enough, with a smiling Rick, apparently pleased that she'd left her property.

"Come in, you don't need to knock." Rick said as he stepped back.

Abby pointed her thumb towards the other car. "Wasn't sure I should with you havin' a visitor."

Rick rolled his eyes and indicated for her to go in. Abby stepped inside and was shocked to see Michonne sitting in the living room with Andre playing on the floor. When Michonne saw her stepping into the room, she smiled and stood up.

"Abby! It's great to see you!" Michonne greeted as she stepped forward for a hug.

Ever since she'd left, her and Abby had kept in touch via text. In the last couple weeks, Michonne had moved to King county from Atlanta, preferring the close-knit community feel for her son, over the big city buzz and had no shortage of clients. Apparently, she'd kept in touch with Rick too.

"Yeah, it's been too long. Sorry I haven't been 'round." Abby said as she moved off towards the kitchen, making Rick sigh.

"Abigail, you don't need to cook right away." He said as he watched.

"You got a guest, so you need to feed them." Abby said ignoring him. "Besides, I'm hungry too."

Michonne laughed. "You two just make yourselves at home in each other's houses, don't you?"

Abby smirked as she shrugged. "I didn't think it was all that weird, but maybe it is."

"It is unusual but in the good kind of way." Michonne said as she sat at Rick's small table sitting by a window in the kitchen.

"So, what brings you here, Abigail?" Rick asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Do I need a reason to come see you?" Abby asked pausing, trying to gauge the environment. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No! Not at all!" Michonne said a little too quickly, for a lawyer, she wasn't a good liar.

"I'm interrupting, I'll go." Abby said as she turned for the door, suddenly not wanting to be there.

Rick stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. "Don't go! I'm happy you're here!" Rick said with feeling.

Rick ducked down a little to better look her in the eye. He saw something there, as his hands tightened on her shoulders as he looked up at Michonne.

"We'll be right back." He said as he steered Abby out the back door.

When they were outside, he got her to sit on the picnic table that was in his backyard, then sat down beside her.

"What's going on, baby girl? You came here for a reason. I can tell yer upset, yer awfully good at hidin' it but I know you." Rick said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and continued to study her face.

Abby sighed as she looked him in the eye. "I went to the doctor today. I've been feeling off lately, thought I should get myself checked out."

Rick's face shifted to worry. "And?"

"I'm not sick... I'm... I'm pregnant." Abby finally managed to say it, stringing the two words together for the first time, but it still didn't real.

Rick's eyebrows shot up in shock. "Pregnant?"

"Yeah, like _really_ pregnant, like nine weeks pregnant...I feel so lost right now...I don't know what to do." Abby's scrunched up as she tried to fight back the flood of tears she felt coming but when Rick put his other arm around her, she lost control and sobbed into her brother's arms.

Rick rubbed her back and rocked her while she cried. "Oh sis, I wish I could help you with that."

"I have no direction." Abby said in between sobs. "I have no purpose. How am I supposed to raise a baby on my own when I can't figure my own life out?"

"You're not a lone, you have me and friends. I'll help as best I can." Rick said hugging her tightly.

Abby clutched tightly to his shirt as she tried to get her sobbing under control. Slowly, her sobs subsided to small hiccups and her tears stopped coming, so she sat up as her back started killing her. Abby wiped her eyes as she stood up.

"I'm gonna head home." She said to the ground, she couldn't look at Rick right now, she'd just end up crying again.

Rick grabbed her arms as he shook his head. "You shouldn't be alone right now, Abigail. You should spend the night here."

Abby shock her head. "You're obviously in the middle of yer own date or whatever you wanna call that." Rick winced. "You ain't the only one whose good are reading people."

Rick sighed. "Still, I don't want you goin' home a lone in this state. Let a lone driving home on that death machine."

Abby smiled at him sadly. "I'll be okay, I'm always okay."

Rick frowned. "No, you're no! That's why you had to leave the Corps! Because you were _not_ okay! And yer not okay now!"

Abby walked up to Rick again and hugged him tightly. "I'm fine, just hormonal." Abby said softly. "You can't drop everything because I'm having problems. You need to live your own life."

Rick hugged her back, just as tightly. "You _are_ a part of my life, baby girl."

Abby finally broke the hug. "Go back to yer date! You can come by in the mornin', we can talk more than. I'll make you breakfast."

Rick winced. "At least let me drive you home."

Abby kissed him on the cheek. "Go in back inside, I'll call you if I need anything."

Abby finally turned and walked to the side gate and walked to her bike. If it had just been Rick, she might've stayed but at the moment she needed to break down and she didn't want Michonne and her son to bear witness to that, so she was going to go home and do that by herself. But first thing's first, she needed a big fat juicy burger and a milkshake.

111

A week later, Abby sat on her couch staring at the photo in her hand of her unborn baby still growing in her womb. She had just come from seeing her baby doctor and after getting a full exam, she had sent Abby for an ultrasound. Abby thought that seeing the ultrasound would make it feel real but she still felt like she was looking at someone else's baby. With the morning sickness and the near constant crying, it should feel real to her but the feeling just wasn't sinking in.

Abby flinched when a knock came at her door, nearly causing her to rip her picture; obviously it wasn't Rick, he didn't knock. Abby put the picture in the drawer of her end table as she got to her feet, then walked to the door and opened it. She stared in shock at the person standing on her porch before her. Martin. With his boyfriend.

"Hey, Ab's. Surprise!" Martin said, sounding a little sheepish.

"W-what're you doing here?" She was shocked to see him, having not exchanged a single word since their divorce

"Can we come in? It's a little chilly out here." Martin requested as a shivered rolled through him.

Without a word Abby turned away from the door and walked back to the couch and plunked down. Martin and Allan slowly entered, closing the door behind them and walked into the living room. Abby waved to the loveseat.

"Take a load off. Want a beer or a coffee?" Abby asked politely. She used to be angry at him but the anger had lessened but part of her was still annoyed.

"No, I'm fine." Martin said smiling at her, probably relishing in the southern hospitality. The big cities he tended to visit probably lacked that.

"I'll take a coffee! I didn't think Georgia could get this chilly!" Allan said as he continued to shiver.

"It is October." Abby said as she got to her feet and walked into the kitchen. "You didn't answer my question, why are you here?"

Martin got up and walked into the kitchen, then sat on a barstool at the island. "I was hoping you'd help me with something." He said simply.

Abby pushed the power button on her coffee machine, then turned back to Martin. "What do you need, Martin?" Abby asked dryly.

"Help with my folks." Martin said wincing.

"Your parents _hate_ me! They never wanted us to get married in the first place! And now we're divorced, they wouldn't hear a word I say!" Abby said in irritation.

"I want to tell them 'bout Allan and I, you bein' there would be a great help. You know givin' your support, showing that you aren't angry." Martin said looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Who says I'm not angry." Abby said as she pulled a coffee cup from the cupboard and poured a cup of coffee. Abby looked around Martin to Allan. "You want it black or do you want some sugar or cream?"

"I suggest some cream at least, we make coffee a little strong down here." Martin said smiling back at Allan.

Allan finally stood up and joined Martin at the island. "Maybe a little cream."

Abby turned to the fridge, pulled the cream out and put both cream and coffee in front of Allan. Martin looked at Abby once more.

"If you were mad at me, you wouldn't have let me in. I might have been a terrible husband to you but we used to be good friends, I know you." Martin said with considerable feeling.

"You _use_ to know me, I've changed a lot since I got back from the war, not that you were around enough to notice." Abby grumbled…so maybe she was a little bitter still.

Martin winced. "I deserved that. Mother said you have a boyfriend again, not long after we got divorced."

Abby frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Martin held his hands up. "Nothing, that came out sounding wrong. I'm happy that you've moved on, really, I am. You're still a real catch for any _straight_ guy, they'd be stupid to let you stay out on the market."

"Thanks, I guess." Abby said as turned back to her fridge and started rummaging through the fridge, suddenly feeling peckish.

"So are you going to help us talk to his parents?" Allan pressed.

Abby sighed as she pulled out the garden grown carrots, then fished in the cupboard for the peanut butter. "You are pushy and opinionated ain't ya." Abby said as she opened the jar, then stuck her carrot into the jar and used it to scoop out the peanut butter and took a bite off of her carrot. "I would keep silent when dealin' with them, they'll hate you the second you open yer mouth."

Martin raised an eyebrow as she continued dipping her carrot into the peanut butter. "She's right 'bout that, my folks won't appreciate back talk. Just stick with yes sir and yes ma'am."

Abby opened her mouth to reply but stopped as two loud motorcycles rumbled up to her house. Abby's heart skipped a beat, hoping it was Daryl but his motorcycle was now in her garage. Abby walked into the living room to peer outside. When she looked through the window, she saw one familiar older bald man and another man she hadn't seen before but bore a similar appearance to the other man. Abby's face darkened.

"Go upstairs and call my brother." Abby said as she walked over to where the family shotgun rested on its brackets.

"What's going on?" Martin asked peering through the front door.

"Just tell Rick that one of the assholes in front of Daryl's work just rolled up to the house. They're gonna cause trouble." Abby rushed into the office opened the gun cabinet, shoved her pistol in her belt as she grabbed a box of shotgun shells. Abby grabbed her hunting rifle and held it out to Martin. "You still remember how to use one of these?"

"Yeah." He said as he took it from her.

Martin waved at Allen to follow him as he ran up the steps. Abby waited for them to disappear up the stairs before pulling the door open and stepping out. Abby fired a shot off over their heads as she walked down the steps.

"Get the fuck of my property!" She shouted at them menacingly.

"We meet again, girlie." The bald man said. "This time, you ain't gonna get the upper hand. You see last time, I didn't realize that you were Daryl Dixon's girlfriend."

"Last time I had just shot yer friend in the leg and had a gun pointed at yer head with the real potential that I might actually pull the trigger." Abby growled. "You see I'm an military vet, a Marine, I've killed people before and I'll kill you if I have to."

The other man laughed. "I like you! I can see why a Dixon would take interest in a woman like you. I'm Clint, this is Paul." He said waving between them. "My little brother lacks manners, so I'm here to ask you real nicely; where are the Dixon boys? I know Daryl was here, for many months and where one is, so is the other."

"Don't know who yer talkin' 'bout. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Abby growled.

Clint smiled. "I thought you might say that." He said then pulled a walkie from his belt and clicked the talk button. "Bring 'em here."

The roar of another motorcycle slowly got louder as it rolled onto her property with another man Abby had never seen along with a terrified looking Carl, sitting in front him. Abby nearly blew off the head of the nearest man, Paul, the second she saw him but that would only get Carl killed. The man stopped beside Clint, then grabbed tightly onto Carl as he tried to make a run for her.

"You see, I'm a little smarter than my brother. When he told me 'bout you, I thought there was more to it than you bein' an upstandin' citizen but I was to busy tryin' to hunt yer boy down." Clint said as he finally got off of his bike. "Those Dixon boys sure are slippery. So when I lost his scent, I thought I should circle back. Now it was a little difficult digging up information on you, people round here are quite close lipped but they don't seem so inclined when in came to my boy, Daryl. One man let it slip that the two of you were a hot item, were rumors that you were even gettin' married! So, then I started digging around more 'bout you and found that yer family has been in this area for generations and that you even have an older brother who has a son. Now, big brother is a sheriff, a little too much trouble but his son was an easy grab. So, here's the deal. You give up yer weapons, let us tie you up and you come with us, then we let the boy go."

Abby's eyes momentarily shifted to Carl, who stared at her with a terrified expression. "How do I know you'll let him go?" Paul and his friend had no spine but when she looked into Clint's eyes, she realized that he was a killer.

Clint gestured to his friend, who then put Carl's feet on the ground but held on to him tightly. "Now you put yer shotgun and pistol on the ground and walk forward. Once my brother has you tied up, we'll let him go."

Abby clenched her teeth as she stared the man in the eyes, he smiled as he knew he had her beat. With a sigh, Abby set her shotgun down on the ground, then her pistol beside it. She then stood up with her hands in the air and slowly walked over to Paul as he got off his bike grinning. He walked up to her, grabbing her shoulder roughly then kicked the back of her knees, forcing her to kneel in the dirt.

"Once they let you go Carl, run straight up the stairs, to yer room." Abby ordered Carl, who watched in horror as they roughly pulled her hands behind her back.

"Shut up!" Paul growled as he cuffed her upside the head.

Abby glared at him but didn't say anything. Once her hands were tied, the unnamed man shoved Carl into the dirt but instead of scampering away, he looked worriedly back at his aunt.

"Go Carl, now!" Abby shouted at him.

Carl flinched then got on his feet and ran as fast as he could for the house, taking her guns with him. Paul roughly pulled her to her feet and marched her over to his brother. Clint scooted back a little, then smiled at her lecherously.

"Get on beautiful. You and papa are going for a ride." He said as he pulled her onto his bike in front of him.

Off in the distance, Abby could hear the sound of sirens approaching but it was going to be too late. The three men peeled out of her driveway, then cut across an open field before hitting the highway and taking off at full speed. They drove for several hours, constantly turning, avoiding any heavily populated areas, before pulling to a stop at a one street town, in front of a Quonset.

"Welcome to the middle of no where's." Clint said, then shoved her off to his brother.

Throughout the trip, Clint had copped many feels making Abby very angry and very much wanting to kill the bastards. They had no respect for no one and lived by their own rules, treated woman like disposable toys. They propelled her forward, until she was inside the building, then shoved her down onto a chair and strapped her to it. Thankfully, she had left her phone on the end table by her couch so they couldn't use it to get information on Daryl but at that same time, the good guys couldn't track her position.

"So how do you contact him?" Clint asked as he sat in a chair across from her. Abby just stared at him, she wouldn't give him shit, she could only hope they didn't start punching her in the stomach. Clint smacked her face, open handed, real hard, instantly making her mouth bleed. "How do you contact him?"

Again, Abby just stared at him, this time she smiled. Getting angry, Clint punched her across the jaw, snapping Abby's face to the side. Abby started laughing as she continued to stare at him. Clint stood up so suddenly that his chair tipped back as he pulled his pistol out and pointed it at Abby's head. Abby stopped laughing as she pressed her head against the muzzle and looked up at him.

"Do it. Put me out of my misery." Abby dared him.

She probably looked more than a little insane, but she'd trained to resist interrogation and these boys only knew the shrewd way of doing things.

"She said she was a Marine, if that's true, she probably won't talk to easily." The unnamed man said as he stepped forward and reached unnecessarily down the front of her shirt and pulled out her dog tags, squinting at them. "Master Gunnery Sergeant." He read. "We're wasting our time with questioning her, she won't crack but we let Daryl know we got his girl, he'll come to us."

Clint finally pulled the gun away, making Abby laugh once more. "Fine. I hope you have a good idea for that."

"I do." The man answered as him and Clint disappeared into a small room off to one side.

"I'd hate be related to him." Abby said smiling at Paul. "I'd die of embarrassment, and he calls _you_ stupid."

"Shut up!" Paul growled as he back handed her then grabbed a greasy cloth and shoved it in her mouth, followed by a piece of duct tape.

111

Abby couldn't tell how much time had passed but it had been just past noon when the men had nabbed her and it was now well into the night. She was sitting there in complete darkness when a prickling feeling went up Abby's neck. Clint had tried to ask her a few more questions but was met with the same results, which made her capable of seeing out of only one eye but even if she had two, it'd be difficult to see in the utter darkness. A hand suddenly grabbed her wrist, causing Abby to instinctually pull away.

"It's me." Daryl's whispered voice came from behind her.

Abby tried to turn her head so she could see him but it was too dark, she tried to make a sound, hoping to warn him but it was too late. The lights in the Quonset all came on, momentarily blinding Abby. When her eye refocused, she saw the three men aiming rifles at Daryl's chest.

"Damn, just one of you? And not even the right Dixon." Clint said in disappointment.

"You'll never get Merle." Daryl growled. "He don't care 'bout anyone but himself. You've got me now let her go, she ain't got nothin' to do with this."

"If you hadn't gone running off, she'd never had gotten pulled into this. This is _your_ fault." Clint said shaking his head. "You see, if she had been some ordinary house wife or a hooker, I'd believe she'd say nothing to no one but I've now come to the realization that she'll talk and I can have that."

Daryl stepped in between her and the men blocking her view of them. "What matter does that make? Kill me, torture me, do whatever you want just let her _go_!"

Clint chuckled. "I'll be damned, Daryl Dixon is in _love_!? How'd you get yerself a woman like that? I admit, she's damn fine and I find her fascinating. I get it, I really do but she's gonna die. Now move or you'll die first."

Abby saw him clench his fists. "No."

Suddenly a whole bunch of things happened at once. Abby heard a gun go off in the direction she had last seen Clint, then saw Daryl crumple to his knees as the doors were suddenly blown open and several uniformed men rushed inside, guns trained on Clint and his men, as well as Daryl. Abby shook her head violently and tried to shout at the men but the cloth and duck tape prevented her words from making sense. One of the men finally noticed her thrashing and stepped forward to pull the tape from her mouth and remove the cloth.

"He ain't one of them!" Abby exclaimed immediately, indicating Daryl with her head as he knelt on the ground. "He came here to _save_ me."

"Ma'am, you're here because of him." The federal officer said.

"No, I'm here because of Merle, not Daryl. Daryl is just gettin' caught in the middle." Abby insisted.

"Ma'am, the stress is gettin' to you, you're not seeing things clearly."

"Screw you!" Abby growled. "I'm a retired Master Gunnery Sergeant of the Marine corps, I've seen and been in more shit then this whole room combined!"

The agent stared at her a little shocked by her intensity, then pulled his knife out and cut her bindings loose. "Sorry ma'am."

As soon as her bindings fell from her wrists, Abby knelt on the ground next to Daryl where he remained on his knees, hunched over with a hand to his shoulder. Abby pulled his hand away and looked at the wound, either Clint wasn't a good shot or the loud noises had startled him enough that his shot had missed its intended target, hitting Daryl just beneath the collarbone, hitting nothing but soft tissue.

"He needs a medic!" Abby growled at the man.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently? So do you!" The fed said as he wandered off.

Most of the men had their guns now pointed at the ground as Clint and his men got arrested, moving around the building and started investigating the scene. Abby pressed her hand firmly against the wound finally bringing Daryl's attention to her. He looked at her, pain in his eyes but not from the gunshot wound.

"They hurt you because of me." He said softly. "I left because I was tryin' to prevent that!"

Abby stroked his cheek with her free hand. "Honey, I'm pretty sure I have more enemies than you and much more dangerous ones. This coulda happened to me, whether or not I'd met you."

"I'm sorry!" He whispered then looked down again.

Abby saw paramedics walking towards them so she stopped talking, knowing that the more she'd talk, the more both of them would get upset. The paramedics knelt down by each of them and started attending their wounds. As the paramedic started rummaging through her bag she looked up at Abby and asked.

"Do you have any conditions we should know about?"

Abby looked at Daryl, then back at the paramedic. "I'm pregnant."

The paramedic stopped and looked over at her partner who was bandaging Daryl's shoulder. "You two need the hospital, we'll take you to Athens."

Abby looked over at Daryl. "Can I borrow yer phone? Rick's probably freakin' out by now…and Carl, I wanna make sure he's okay."

Daryl's head snapped up again and looked at her shocked. "What happened to Carl?"

An older federal agent stepped forward and knelt down beside them. "I'm agent Ford, I'm in charge of this investigation. I can't let you call Sheriff Grimes just yet, Gunney." He said to her then looked at the paramedics. "Can you give us a moment, I'd like to have word with these two."

The two paramedics nodded then got up and walked out of earshot but within visual range. Abby wobbled as she tried to get to her feet, feeling dizzy from the effort but with assistance from both Daryl and Agent Ford, she finally got to her feet.

"Are you alright, Gunney?" Agent Ford asked as he slowly let go and stepped back as Daryl continued to hold on to her with his good arm.

"Just a little dizzy, probably got a bit of a concussion." She replied as she put a hand to her head.

"I'll make this quick so the paramedics can get you two to the hospital. Your brother, Sheriff Grimes, contacted us when you'd been abducted. We take the abduction of American Heroes very seriously, especially with your security clearance. What I don't understand is how these wannabe bike gangsters managed to get a highly trained solider such as yerself."

"They kidnapped my thirteen year old nephew from his school. They said they would let him go in exchange for my co-operation, so I did." Abby said, as exhaustion hit her hard. "I knew they knew nothin' really 'bout me, had no idea of my worth. They just wanted to kill Merle Dixon and figured if they could lure Daryl here, they'd also lure Merle."

Ford looked at Daryl. "And that'd be your brother?"

"Yessir." Daryl mumbled, obviously uncertain with how he should act or react.

"What do they want with your brother?" Ford asked Daryl.

"My brother tends to get 'imself into trouble a lot." Daryl said shrugging. "He said somethin' 'bout a girl and a motorcycle, wouldn't really tell me what happened."

"That's all he told you?" Ford asked skeptically.

"Yessir." Daryl said again, this time sounding a little testy.

"Well that sounds like more of a local law enforcement problem. These boys bit off more than they could chew, they won't be facing any ordinary kidnapping charges. They won't be getting out of jail anytime soon." Ford said then waved the paramedics over. "I'll send an agent to the hospital in Athens to get an official statement from the both of you, for right now get yourselves checked over by doctors."

"Thanks for the rescue." Abby said nodding her head slightly.

Ford nodded and walked away as the other agents all cleared out of the building. The paramedic grabbed Abby's elbow and then all four of them, escorted by two fully armoured agents, walked outside into the night, lit up by the spotlights from the feds vehicles. They helped up Abby up into the back of the ambulance and attempted assist Daryl but he swatted their hands away in irritation, then sat on the bench next to Abby. One paramedic climbed in the back with them while the other closed the doors then walked to the front and climbed behind the steering wheel.

It took them forty-five minutes to reach the hospital and while they drove, Abby used Daryl's phone to call her brother. When he answered, the anxiety in his voice was obvious. She calmed him down, let him know she was okay and that Daryl was with her and that he too would be okay. Rick told her that Carl was a little shaken up by his encounter but was okay. He also told her that he had been the one to notify the police, that'd she'd been abducted but when Daryl had been told about her abduction and where he'd find her, it was Daryl who'd told Rick the location who then told the Fed's. Daryl couldn't wait for the feds to make it to her location and decided to try to rescue him herself or at least stall them until the feds could get there.

For the rest of the trip, Abby rested her head on Daryl's good shoulder and held his hand, both clutching the other's hand tightly. When they rolled to a stop in front of the hospital, Daryl helped Abby out of the back of ambulance and held her hand as they were escorted inside the hospital. They were given beds side by side in the E.R. but once Daryl had the bullet removed from his shoulder and they finished patching him up, he sat on the edge of her bed. For Abby, even though she only had a few bruises on her face and a swollen eye, they were a lot more thorough. The doctors were concerned with the stress that she'd been put through would affect her pregnancy. In the end, they checked her in so they could keep her overnight to observe her. When they were finally left alone in the privacy of their own room, they finally started talking.

"I'm sorry I left, babe." Daryl said as he put his forehead to her hand. "I'm sorry that I didn't respond to you, I thought I was doin' the right thing for you. Figured you'd be better off without me but then you text me that you were pregnant…I almost jumped in my truck and drove straight back…but those bastards were huntin' us."

"Daryl, I wasn't better without you! I need you in my life! I love you! You don't know how miserable I've been without you!" Abby said to him, tears starting to roll down her cheek.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"You should've asked me for help, asked Rick. We could've helped you." Abby said quietly

"I didn't want you involved in my crappy family problems." Daryl said, his eyes glued to the mattress.

"Are you going to leave again?" Abby asked, choking up on her last word.

"Do you want me to?" Daryl asked finally looking up at her.

"No! I _want_ you here! I still want to marry you! More importantly, I want our baby to have its father in its life!" She reached up and stroked his face.

"Then I'll stay." Daryl answered finally.

"What 'bout Merle? Where is he?" Abby was quite curious about what had happened with him. It had sounded like he had reconnected with his brother after he'd left Haral.

"Outside of Athens some where's. When I heard 'bout you gettin' snatched, he wanted nothing to do with it, refused to help me. I knew it was a trap but I couldn't let you get hurt because of me…I failed at preventing that." He said then reached up and gently stroked one of her bruises.

Abby shrugged. "I wasn't exactly meek, they wanted me to talk so I started insulting them, mocking them…I'm not a very good prisoner. They realized pretty quick that I wasn't gonna be an easy job. I woulda shoot those bastards if they hadn't gotten Carl."

Daryl's face fell again. "I'm sorry, that poor kid."

"He's okay, Daryl. Just a little shaken up." Abby said softly as she stroked his now lowered head.

Just then, a knock came at the door and in stepped two agents. One requested to speak with Daryl outside of the room, while the other wished to speak with Abby. Daryl stood up and kissed her forehead before exiting the room. Abby then gave her statement, dictating it like she would for her field reports and after answering a few more questions, both agents left. While Daryl had waited for her to give her statement and after he'd given his, he finally called his brother and told him what was going on. After only another twenty minutes, Merle appeared in her doorway.

"C'mon boy, it's time to go!" Merle said from the door.

Abby was slightly shocked at how much Daryl's demeanor changed. When she'd met him, he'd been tense, ready for you to say something offensive to him, even taking offense to things that most people wouldn't even bat an eye at but he'd been relatively calm around her, almost quiet but when Merle appeared in the doorway, he puffed up like a peacock. Daryl stood up and let go of her hand but he stayed at her side.

"I ain't goin' no where, I made that mistake once and I ain't doin' it again." He said with such venom.

"So yer gonna ditch your brother for this bitch?" Merle asked, indicating Abby.

Daryl finally moved around the bed, looking like he was about to take a swing at his brother. "Don't talk 'bout her like that!" Daryl said getting up in his brothers face.

"Daryl." Abby said firmly. "Don't let him get under yer skin. I've had worse things said 'bout me."

"I wasn't talkin' to you girl!" Merle growled.

"Well I think you should be. It was yer tiny brain that nearly got me, my unborn baby and a thirteen year old kid, killed!" Abby said in a low threatening voice. "If you weren't Daryl's brother, you'd have more than just a broken nose."

Merle opened his mouth to reply but then paused and looked at Daryl shocked. "Baby?" He finally asked.

"Yeah, she's pregnant." Daryl said not relaxing one bit. "B'fore you interfered, we were gonna get married! I was gettin' a life! I had a good job! I ain't gonna go no where's you! I'm stayin' with Abby, I'm gonna raise my kid and I'm gonna make myself _be_ somebody!"

Merle sneered. "She's got you seein' things! Ain't nothing goin' to change. At least you've grown a pair…finally."

"You an' I both now you don't need me around an' you ain't the only one who gives a damn about me anymore." Daryl growled as he walked back to Abby's side.

"You don't need to go disappearing off into the sunset, Merle, yer Daryl's brother. So long as you accept the fact that I'm here to stay and you obey our rules, I don't mind you bein' around." Abby said. "Family is important to me and my brother is very much apart of my life, you can be apart of it too."

Merle's eye's narrowed as he inspected. "Well ain't you a peach." He said sarcastically.

Merle left after that, angry with Daryl for not leaving with him and leaving Daryl clearly irritated by his visit. As a distraction, Abby asked him to go find her some food, so he could get some air and so she could feed her loudly growling belly. When he came back, she practically inhaled the food as Daryl watched on in amusement, smirking ever so slightly. When Abby finished her meal, she tried to keep her eyes open, but they had grown a life of their own and drooped, wanting to close. So, after a while, Daryl kissed her on the forehead and told her to sleep. So, she turned on her side, facing Daryl and clutched his hand to her chest as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Well? Daryl's back, yay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 'Til next time!

-Shockra


	12. Chapter 12

Hey! Man it is a scorcher out there! I actually had to come home early last weekend, my kitty decided she need to get sick right before I left. My brother, who was looking after her, said she wasn't eating so I had to come home! My poor baby. I'm not sure what it was, maybe a kitty flu? I did take her to the vet but they didn't know for sure what was wrong with her, but she's all normal now. Right back to being a mischievous little stinker.

* * *

It was midmorning by the time Abby's eyes finally opened, the swelling having gone down enough that she could see out of both eyes once more. Daryl no longer had his hand between her hands but leaned back in his chair, chin to his chest, breathing slowly as he slept. When Abby rolled onto her back she saw Rick, still in uniform, standing up from a chair on her other side and walk over to her.

"Mornin', baby girl." He said softly.

In the chair beside where Rick had been sitting, Carl laying on his side curled up, fast asleep. "How is he?" Abby asked, indicating Carl.

Rick looked back a Carl. "Hasn't left my side since I arrived at the farm, was real worried 'bout you too. Feels like it's his fault you got taken. Can't believe I'm grateful for Martin being around."

"Oh shit!" Abby exclaimed quietly, putting a hand to her mouth. "I forgot 'bout him bein' there!"

Rick chuckled. "Yeah, that's not hard. He crashed at your place for the night, I hope that was alright."

"Yeah that's fine." Abby said with a sigh.

The door suddenly swung open and in stepped a doctor, followed by two younger doctors', probably interns, making Daryl flinch awake and sit up fully alert. The doctor stepped further into the room heading for the side Rick was standing on and where all the machinery was located, so he moved around to the other side and sat at her feet. Carl joined his father, also being awakened by the doctor, as the doctor looked at her heart monitor. When she finally looked away from the monitor, she smiled pleasantly at Abby.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself." She said as she started writing things down on Abby's chart. "I'm doctor Wright and those are doctor's Englin and Baker. Which one of you is the babies father?"

Daryl rubbed his eyes as he stood up then held out his hand. "That's me. I'm Daryl, Daryl Dixon." Daryl said trying to be polite.

"I'm her brother, Rick." Rick said with a nod. "And my son Carl." He continued patting Carl's shoulder.

"Howdy." She said with a nod. "I'll get down to business, I'm sure you're ready to get home. So far, there's been no sign of fetal distress and your blood pressure has remained well within healthy perimeter's. Despite your difficult day, you seem to have escaped without much adverse effect, beyond…" The doctor faded off as she indicated Abby's face. "If you're ready, I think we can get the paperwork started to get you discharged."

"Oh, I'm more than ready." Abby said happily.

"Alright. Doctor Baker here, will fetch the paperwork and we'll get you on your way." Dr. Wright said as she lowered the clipboard. With a nod, all three doctors turned and left the room.

Abby turned her head and smiled at Daryl. "Could you do me a favor?" She asked and when he nodded, she continued. "Could you go out and buy me a new shirt? The one I was wearing has blood and dirt on it and I don't want to be walking around in that."

"I don't mind doin' that but do you really trust me to not get you somethin' funky?" Daryl asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Just a basic t-shirt will do." Abby said with a chuckle. "I think you can handle that."

Daryl smirked slightly. "Anything else?

"That's a dangerous question to ask me right now." Abby said chuckling as she patted her stomach. "That'll do for now, we can got grab an early lunch once we get out of here."

Daryl nodded, grabbed his vest to cover up his own blood-stained shirt then walked out. Rick watched him go, then replaced Daryl in the chair beside her as Carl jumped up on the bed. Abby smiled and patted him on the knee before looking over at Rick.

"You were nice to him, right? I wasn't awake when you arrived." Abby asked.

Rick sighed. "Yeah I was. I get why he did what he did, I don't agree with it, but he was thinking about you. Then he called me and told me where to find you, then put his own life on the line to protect yours. I respect that. Got shot for his troubles even. I'd have been there myself but they wouldn't let me go." Rick grumbled the last part.

"The last thing either me or Carl want, is for you to get shot again." Abby said. "I'm glad you weren't there."

Carl crawled to sit up beside her and Abby scooted to one side so he could sit beside her. "I'm glad you're okay, aunty." He said putting his on her shoulder.

Abby kissed the top of his head. "I'm glad you're okay too. How are you feelin'?"

Carl shrugged. "Fine, they didn't really hurt me. I thought that maybe they were Daryl's friends at first, that's why I walked up to them. I thought maybe they'd know where he'd gone."

Abby sighed and kissed him again. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, kiddo."

"I'm just happy that you're okay and Daryl's back…he's staying, right?" Carl asked as he looked up at her worriedly.

"Yeah he's staying. He was unhappy too and now that those bad people who were chasing after him and his brother are gone and will be in jail for a very long time, he'll can stay." Abby said.

Rick winced. "I hope it's okay, I told him 'bout you having a baby. I figured it was easier to explain why you had to stay the night."

Abby smiled at Rick. "That's fine." Then looked down at Carl. "What do you think 'bout that?"

Carl finally smiled. "Excited! You and Daryl with be awesome parents and I'll have a cousin!"

Abby laughed and hugged him as Dr. Baker came in with the paperwork. Carl continued to sit with her as she filled out the necessary paperwork and signed the things she needed to sign. When she was done, the three of them continued to visit while they waited for Daryl to come back.

After forty-five minutes, Daryl finally showed up again, in his own clean new shirt and a store bag which he held out to her. Abby took the bag and climbed out of bed, now detached from all the machines and walked into the attached bathroom. When she opened the bag she had to chuckle, Daryl not only got her a shirt but a whole outfit. Her jeans had been soiled slightly also but just with dirt so she had planned on wearing them. On top of the shirt and jeans, he'd also bought her some racy looking lace underwear.

Daryl was smirking slightly as she came out, fully dressed, probably thinking about how that underwear looked on her. They walked hand in hand out, of the hospital and followed Rick to the parking lot. The feds had been kind enough to have Daryl's truck towed to the hospital, giving them both their own rides. After making an agreement of where to eat, Abby climbed inside the truck with Daryl and sat in her normal spot right beside him.

As they rolled out of the parking lot, Abby squeezed Daryl's leg. "So, red lace, huh?"

Daryl grinned at her wickedly while blushing. "Figured it'd suite you."

"Already thinkin' 'bout me naked, are you?" She asked as she pinched his arm.

Daryl chuckled. "It's been a month since I've even kissed you, it's hard not to think 'bout you. Besides, I always think 'bout you naked." He said with another wicked grin.

Daryl rolled up to a stop at a red light, so Abby turned his face towards her and kissed him. The kiss last longer than intended and it took an impatient driver honking at them to get Daryl to focus back on the road and moving once more. They finally rolled to a stop, once more, in front of a restaurant, they climbed out to join Rick and Carl, who were already inside.

Once they'd sat down and gotten their food, Abby ate with fervor, having not eaten since noon the day before; which for a pregnant woman was like an eternity. Daryl watched her eat with a smirk on his face and even gave her some of his when she'd finished her own plate. Carl frowned as the third person stared at them in shock, as they passed by their table.

"Probably shoulda put on some makeup." Abby commented around her mouthful of food, suddenly conscious of her bruises. "Probably look like a battered wife."

"At least yer face isn't swollen no more." Daryl said as he slowly munched on his fries.

"No, I just look like a rainbow." Abby grumbled.

"I think you're still pretty!" Carl said then blushed.

Abby chuckled as she reached across the table and ruffled his hair. "Thanks, kiddo."

After Abby finished her second burger, the four of them left the restaurant to finally head home. Eventually, Abby nodded off, as Daryl drove down the highway, exhaustion over taking her once more despite her time in the hospital. When Daryl slowed to turn down their dirt road, though, she woke up once more. Abby stared at the house as they rolled down the driveway, she'd never been so happy in her life to see it.

"Whose car is that?" Daryl asked, frowning as he rolled to a stop.

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you about that." Abby said then laughed sheepishly.

"'bout what?" Daryl asked, watching her carefully, like he thought she was about to drop a bomb on him.

"Oh, don't get so worried right away, it's just Martin and his pain in the ass boyfriend. They showed up right b'fore Clint had." Abby said with a sigh as Rick rolled to stop beside them.

"What he want?" Daryl asked her, slightly annoyed as he glared at the car.

"For me to hold his hand while he tells his folks he's gay, then introduce his boyfriend to 'em." Abby replied as she rolled her eyes.

"What is he, a child? He does realize that yer divorced, right?" Daryl asked sarcastically, just as both men walked out onto the porch. "Which one is he?"

"The ginger on the left, lookin' all terrified as Rick gets outta his car." Abby said with a chuckle.

Daryl snickered as the two of them got out of the truck. When Martin saw her, he rushed down the stairs and enveloped her in a hug as Allan gave her the stink eye.

"Thank god, you're okay!" He exclaimed as Abby held her hands out at her side, not terribly impressed with the hug.

Finally, when he didn't let go right away, Abby pushed him back. "I'm fine, Martin! Thanks to Daryl here, you know my fiancé, as well as my brother."

Martin looked cautiously at Rick then at Daryl with the same caution. Daryl stared at him unhappily, whether it was the hug or the fact that he was there in the first place, Abby didn't know, it could be all of the above. It was probably both.

"I'm Martin King." Martin said holding out his hand. "Abby's ex."

Daryl looked down at his hand then pushed past Allan to the porch and up the steps. Rick followed hot on Daryl's heels, chuckling as he slapped him on the back. Carl looked a little confused by both interactions but followed his father inside the house.

"Sorry, he knows all 'bout us. Ain't a fan of cheaters or people who hurt me...and him and Rick get along really well." Abby said politely, but hardly meaning it. "So, you talk to yer folks yet?"

Martin shook his head. "No, I was worried 'bout you!"

"That's sweet but obviously, I'm fine. You should go talk to 'em. Probably wondering why you've been in town for a whole day but haven't seen 'em yet."

Martin winced. "Actually, I was still hoping you'd still come along."

"I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm hormonal and that ain't gonna change tomorrow. Besides he's _your_ boyfriend, it's his job to support you now, not mine!" Abby said tiredly.

"Alright, you're right... but" Martin looked down at the ground, his face pinched in guilt. "Could we stay one more night?"

Abby sighed in irritation. "Fine, _one_ more night! Daryl ain't gonna be happy 'bout this but I'll deal with him."

"It's _your_ house." Martin said meekly.

"No, it's _our_ house." Abby said then stepped around him, up the steps and into the house.

When she stepped inside, Carl was sitting on the couch while Rick had his nose in the fridge but Daryl was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Daryl?" Abby asked as she stepped into the living room.

"Upstairs, showering." Rick said as he pulled out the pie she'd made a few days earlier from the blueberries they had growing on the property.

Abby quirked an eyebrow. "Ain't I the pregnant one?"

Rick chuckled. "I can't help it you cook so well, blame mom. She taught you too much."

"Well make sure you share some of it with yer son, he needs the fat more than you do." Abby said grinning as she started up the stairs.

Carl broke out laughing as Rick replied. "Oh, ouch! And what are you laughing at?"

Abby could hear Carl's squeal as Rick came over and started tickling his son. She had just made it to the top of the steps when the front door opened and shut, probably Martin and Allan stepping inside but she didn't care, she had shower calling her name with her naked man in it. Abby wasn't sure what was calling to her more, the shower itself or the naked man standing in it. She knew she should harbour some resentment towards Daryl for leaving her, but she just couldn't find it in her to be angry at him, especially when he took a bullet for her.

Abby walked into her room to hear the sound of the shower running. With a smile, she closed and locked the bedroom door, then sauntered towards the bathroom, peeling her clothing off as she went. By the time she'd reached the shower door, she had nothing on so she opened the door and stepped in.

"Took you long enough." Daryl said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Daryl stayed away from her face as he kissed, probably worried about hurting her but his mouth was more than occupied enough everywhere else. Their lovemaking was quick and passionate, and reminded Abby of why they were so perfect for each other. After they had finished, Daryl helped her wash her hair then the two of them got out together. Abby guided him to the closet where he still had clothes in her closet and handed them to him. Instead of grabbing a pair of jeans and shirt for herself Abby grabbed a pair of sweats and sweat shirt. When Daryl cocked an eyebrow, she smiled at him tiredly.

"I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna take a nap." She said as she sat down on the bed.

"You want me to get you something b'fore you pass out?" Daryl asked as he knelt down before her, only half dressed, and kissed her gently.

"If Rick hasn't eaten all my pie, could you bring me up a slice?" She asked kissing him again.

Daryl smirked. "Still hungry, huh?"

Abby smiled. "Always."

111

Over the next week, Abby's misery had been completely forgotten. The first couple of morning's, she had awaken expecting to realize that his return had just been a crazy dream but every morning, he was there. Daryl had gone out of his way to look after her, getting her whatever he thought she needed or requested, doing all the choirs leaving Abby to only do the cooking. When the weekend rolled around, Rick, Jeremy, Abby, Daryl and even Carl packed up to drive deep into the bush to do a bit of hunting. Deer season was officially open and Abby was super stoked to go out with the guys. The last time she'd gone hunting, she'd been seventeen and she'd been with her father and Rick then, one of the last memories she had of her father. Also, while she had seen Daryl use his crossbow to hunt rabbit and squirrel, she was curious with how effective it'd be with a deer.

She was also very shocked that Lori had agreed to let Carl go with them. Up until recently, she'd bubble wrapped her son, barely letting him experience anything. Rick was thrilled to have Carl going with them, it was a bit of a family tradition one that both Abby and Rick had greatly enjoyed. They had gone hunting, first with their grandfather and father, then eventually just their father, from an early age.

Abby clutched the armrest of their new truck, as they bounced down the dirt track that couldn't really be called a road. In reality, it was more of an off-roading track that very few people used except to hunting or to bring ATV's into the bush, so they could tear around. Daryl had had a fairly sizeable savings from not having to pay rent while living with Abby and because of his fairly sizable pay. Now that they were expecting, Abby's motorcycle was no longer suitable for her to drive around and neither was Daryl's old truck. They'd gone together, on Daryl's second day back, to purchase a brand new three-quarter ton truck that had a second row of seats that could handle a car seat. Daryl's truck was pretty worthless, so they'd kept it and Daryl said he'd still use it to go to work or when they had dirty work around the property that they didn't want to damage their new truck with.

A few days after coming back, Daryl had also gone to Haral and begged for his job back, which surprised Abby slightly as Daryl was generally to proud to beg. More than likely, Daryl swallowed his pride for her and their unborn baby, probably feeling the need to support them. Gary had been reluctant at first, but Daryl had been his best mechanic and other than up and leaving, he hadn't caused him any trouble. He was also slammed with work, having a hard time keeping up with the load and he would've had Daryl start that day but with a bullet hole in his shoulder, he couldn't quite start.

Jeremy rolled to a stop as the road narrowed to the point that their trucks couldn't go any further. When Daryl pulled up behind Jeremy, Abby climbed out and reached for her pack in the backseat but as Daryl also got out, he glared at her.

"Don't you dare pick that pack up." Daryl growled at her as he reached across the backseat and pack towards him.

She stuck her tongue out at him but listened to him and just grabbed her hunting rifle instead. Once Daryl had slid the pack onto his back and grabbed his crossbow, they walked over to join Rick, Carl and Jeremy as they all walked further into the bush. Carl chatted happily with his father and the guys as they walked along, telling them all about his week as they climbed over logs to where Rick and Abby wanted to camp. There was a certain site that they'd used when they were younger and, along with it's sentimental value, they'd also had great luck hunting in that area.

Thankfully, it was a good day for walking, not too hot and not too cold with a light breeze that helped keep the mosquitos at bay. It was just reaching noon, when they finally made it too the site, and everyone was relieved. Abby and Rick both started to wonder if they were remembering the way correctly, putting their heads together and whispering, so the others didn't know. Abby never felt lost and even if she had managed to lose her way, she was confident that Daryl would always be able to get them back to where they started.

"Finally!" Carl exclaimed as he sunk onto an old fallen tree trunk.

Abby chuckled. "Yer only carrying a couple pairs of clothes, kiddo. Yer dad is carrying the tent, your sleeping bag and your food on top of his own clothes and gun."

"Yer just carrying a gun." Carl complained, getting a nudge from Rick and a dirty look from Daryl.

"I'm also not complaining and three months pregnant." Abby said as she ruffled his hair.

Daryl set their pack on the ground and untied the tent from the pack. When she started trying to help, Daryl took the poles from her.

"You just sit down, I can do this." Daryl said then turned back to the tent.

Abby let out a frustrated sigh. "Is this what the next six months are gonna look like? Me doing nothing and everyone else doing shit from me?"

Rick laughed as he came beside and nudged her gently. "Get use to it, sis."

Abby couldn't settle for just sitting around, so she started off into the woods. Daryl told her not to go to far, but got a death glare from her, making him turn back to finishing putting the tent together while Rick and Jeremy laughed. As she walked away, she heard Daryl growl "Shut up!" and a thump as he threw something at one of them. She wandered around for a couple minutes, collecting suitable pieces of wood then walked back to the campsite with an arm full of wood. Jeremy saw her walk into the small circle of tents and rushed over to relieve her of her load.

"I got this!" She said annoyed. "You finish yer tent."

Jeremy smirked and then gave her a sarcastic two finger salute. "Yes ma'am."

"Carl, come here. I'll show you how to start a fire." Abby said a she knelt down beside the old stone circle made by past residents, quite possibly even her grandfather.

111

By the time night had fallen, they had all settled down on the ground and visited with each other as the fire burned brightly between them. For Abby, it had been an overall good day. They'd gone for a nice hike in the woods and she'd enjoyed the companionship of her family, which included Jeremy since he'd been in her life since she was four. After that night he'd made a move on her, he'd been very well behaved. Even after Daryl had left, he'd been nothing more than a good friend who tried to be there for her and had even finally gotten himself a serious girlfriend.

It was also good for Rick, getting away from the whole Lori thing, who was now six months pregnant and still living with Shane. Rick had asked for Michonne to accompany them as well, partly to keep Abby company, but she couldn't find anyone to look after Andre for the weekend and Andre was a little too young to go hunting, so she was forced to decline.

Abby laid on her side on the air mattress next to Daryl, wide awake as both Rick and Jeremy snored loudly on either side of their tent. Behind her Daryl spooned up behind her with his arms wrapped around her but he didn't seem to be asleep, judging from his breathing.

"Are you awake?" Abby whispered as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"How could I not be with Rocky and Bullwinkle cutting down the whole damn forest?!" Daryl grumbled behind her.

Abby chuckled quietly as she turned in his arms to face him. "Do you miss your brother?"

Daryl shrugged as he pushed some of her hair outta her face. "I guess. He's been there my whole life…usually. But being with you makes it okay and it's not like he's gone forever. He just needs time to calm down."

"He doesn't have to disappear from your life, you know." Abby said, finally starting to feel sleepy as he continued to stroke the side of her face.

Daryl snorted. "I don't know who'd have harder time dealin' with the other. You him or him you. Merle's loud and unapologetic, you'd wanna beat the crap outta him in no time. Which you shouldn't do since yer pregnant and hurt."

"You scared of him hurtin' me? Or me hurtin' him?" Abby asked smirking.

Daryl chuckled. "You'd beat the crap outta my brother. Even if he wasn't high, you'd be too fast for him." Daryl kissed her forehead. "Now go to sleep, we gotta bag ourselves some deer tomorrow."

Six Months Later

Abby sat awkwardly down on her couch as her legs screamed at her for relief. She was now very pregnant and due to pop any day now. Daryl had offered to take the next week off, so he could stay with her and look after her, but the garage was in the middle of another busy streak and his boss would not be very happy with him. It comforted Daryl a little that Rick would come by at least once a day to check on her, usually bearing food and wasn't far away if she needed him.

Rick was now officially divorced and now in another serious relationship. Michonne and Rick's relationship only seemed to be getting stronger and stronger with each passing week. Just the previous week, Rick and Michonne had gotten their own place and moved in together. Carl seemed to really like Michonne, which both surprised and delighted Abby. His relationship with his mother seemed only be getting worse and worse and he had come to hate Shane. Despite his relationship with Lori and Shane, he was in love with his new sister.

Abby suddenly hissed as pain rolled up then down her back. Abby took a deep breath and tried to relax as she turned her body and brought her legs up onto the sofa and leaned back against the arm. When the pain finally receded, she picked up the book she had been reading earlier and resumed reading it. After the third time, Abby sighed as she got up and walked to the kitchen, straight to the fridge, intending to grab an ice pack. She had just bent over to open the freezer drawer, when a splashing sound, sounded from between her feet.

Abby stared in shock at the puddle between her feet until more pain rolled through her once more. Once the pain receded once more, she picked up her phone from where she'd left it on the counter and dialed Daryl's number. The phone rang several times and was just about to go to voicemail, when the loud screech of power tools sounded, followed by Daryl's voice, although she couldn't actually understand what he had said. She waited for him to move to somewhere quieter and just as the background faded, she let out another hiss of pain.

"Are you okay, babe?" Daryl asked, obviously hearing her.

Abby squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she put a hand on the counter and bent over. "My water just broke." She said between gritted teeth.

Daryl cursed. "I'm on my way." Daryl said, panic clear in his voice.

"Babe." Abby said as she finally caught her breath. "There is no hurry. Labor takes hours. Don't do anything to get yourself killed, we have time."

Abby heard him take a deep breath then let it out slowly. "Right but I'm still coming."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit." Abby said as her body finally relaxed.

She hung up the phone then limped her way to the office where had her baby go bag and a car seating were located, waiting for this moment. She picked up the bag and walked outside and threw the bag into the backseat of their truck the hobbled back into the house to grab the car seat. She made it half way to the truck but had to pause and breath through another contraction. When the contraction passed, she resumed her trip to the truck then put the car seat in the back of the truck.

Tired, Abby only made it up the front steps before deciding to sit and relax on the porch swing that Daryl had first made then installed near the front door. She was just about to continue her journey to the couch when the loud rumble of a motorcycle caught her attention as she sat up. A few moments later, Daryl slid to a stop in front of the porch and had barely put the kick stand down before hopping off and running up the steps.

"What're you doing out here? You should be inside!" Daryl said as he slid off his vest and draped it around her shoulders as she stood up.

"Its not that cold! And I got tired. I brought the bag and car seat to the truck, so we can just leave." Abby said shrugging.

Daryl let out a frustrated sigh. "Do you need anything else?"

Abby thought about it then winced as another contraction hit her. "No but I can't think to clearly right now." She said through gritted teeth.

Abby could see the worry on Daryl's face as he grabbed her elbow with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. After the contraction receded, Daryl helped her to the truck, then helped her inside. As she strapped herself in, Daryl walked around the front of the truck to the driver side door. Just as he sat down, Abby looked over at him and realized his clothes were filthy.

"Go change." She said to him.

"What?" Daryl asked as he looked at her like she was crazy.

"Go change." Abby repeated. "We have time and you look like you decided to take a bath in engine oil. Get cleaned up. I'll wait here."

Daryl sighed in irritation but climbed out of the truck once more. He ran up the steps once more then disappeared inside, then reappeared less then ten minutes later in a fresh set of clothes and mostly clean hands. He stopped in front of the truck and held out his arms and gave her a look that said _is this good?_ Abby smirked as she gave him the double thumbs up. When he climbed into the truck once more, he started the truck then took off for the hospital.

Twenty hours later

Abby smiled adoringly at their newborn baby girl. Beside her, sitting on the beds edge, looking lovingly down at tiny baby in her arms, sat Daryl. The moment he laid eyes on her, that little girl had him wrapped around her tiny little finger and there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect her.

"So? What should we call her?" Abby asked. Her whole body ached, even with the epi still taking the edge off, but she could feel the painkiller fading and the pain intensifying. But she didn't care, holding that baby dulled her pain more than the best pain killer ever could.

"Well, our top three girl names were Mia, Anna and Isabelle." Daryl said as he carefully took the baby from her. "What do you look like?" Daryl cooed to their baby as he bounced her in his arms.

Abby smiled as she watched him. He had been so excited with them expecting and with every passing month, that excitement had only grown. He'd painted the nursery within the first week of coming back and in less then two months, Daryl had helped her first buy then set up everything they need in the nursery. It seemed like every time he ran to the store, he'd come back with a new toy or item for their baby, some of it pretty darn cutesy. He was with her at every appointment, made sure she did everything the doctors asked, which some days irritated the heck out of her.

"I'm impartial to Isabelle." Abby said as she watched him.

"Belle." Daryl cooed as he gently touched the tip of her nose, then looked up at Abby and smiled. "I like it."

"Isabelle it is then." Abby said as he walked back towards her.

Daryl continued to smile as he bent over and kissed her. "I love you." He said as he sat down on the edge of the bed once more as he looked down at their daughter. "And I love you, too." He continued then bent his head down and kissed Isabelle softly on her forehead.

* * *

So we have reached the end! A nice little happy ending! I have at least one one-shot in the works but it probably won't be put out for a while. Now, after I finish with The Art of Deception, I gotta get my ass in gear with my requests! Thanks for all the love! I hope to see you all again!

-Shockra


End file.
